SESSION OF 2021
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 25
As Amended by Senate Committee on
Transportation

Brief*
SB 25, as amended, would prohibit a person under the
age of 18 from using a mobile telephone while operating a
motor vehicle and would prohibit any person from using a
mobile telephone in a school zone when a reduced speed
limit is enforced and in a construction zone, as those zones
are defined in continuing law.
The prohibitions would not apply to a mobile telephone
being used with a hands-free device, to law enforcement
officers or emergency service personnel acting within the
course and scope of their employment, or while a vehicle is
lawfully parked.
The bill would include exceptions to the prohibition, for
these reasons or circumstances: to report current or ongoing
illegal activity to law enforcement; prevent imminent injury to
a person or property; summon medical or other emergency
assistance; or relay information between a transit or for-hire
operator and the operator’s dispatcher, if the device is
permanently affixed to the motor vehicle.
The bill would deem holding a mobile telephone to
constitute prima facie evidence of a violation if the vehicle
operator is younger than 18 or using the telephone in a
school or construction zone.
The bill would define “hands-free device” as a
speakerphone or telephone attachment or other piece of
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
equipment, regardless of whether the device is permanently
installed in the motor vehicle, that allows the use of the
mobile telephone without use of either of the operator’s
hands. The bill would exclude from the definition of hands-
free device a commercial two-way radio communication
device or its functional equivalent, subscription-based
emergency communication device, prescribed medical
device, amateur or ham radio device, or remote diagnostics
system.
The bill would require a law enforcement officer to issue
a warning citation for a violation until January 1, 2022.
The bill would add the above provisions to the Uniform
Act Regulating Traffic on Highways.
The bill would establish a fine of $60 in the uniform fine
schedule for unlawful use of a mobile telephone. The bill also
would make a technical correction to that fine schedule.

Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Transportation at the request of a representative of AAA
Kansas.

Senate Committee on Transportation
At the Senate Committee hearing on January 27, 2021,
representatives of AAA Kansas; Kansas Association of Chiefs
of Police, Kansas Peace Officers Association, and Kansas
Sheriffs Association; the Kansas Department of
Transportation (KDOT); and StopDistractions.org provided
proponent testimony. Written-only proponent testimony was
received from representatives of the Emergency Nurses
Association Kansas State Council, Kansas Contractors
Association, Safe Kids Kansas, and Stormont Vail Health and
from a private citizen. Proponents stated the bill would

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increase safety and apply to a narrow set of circumstances,
and they noted a city or county could retain more restrictive
local law. They stated the state averages 15,000 crashes a
year attributable to distracted driving and, in 2019, 1,401
crashes occurred in work zones.
No opponent or neutral testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to state the
prohibition would not apply when the vehicle is lawfully
parked, exclude certain devices from the definition of “mobile
telephone,” and require a warning citation until January 1,
2022.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the Office of Judicial
Administration states enactment could increase the number
of cases filed in district court; however, a fiscal effect cannot
be estimated. KDOT notes its Traffic Records Enhancement
Fund receives 2.23 percent of all district court fines,
penalties, and forfeitures, and the agency’s Seat Belt Safety
Fund receives 2.20 percent. The bill could increase the fines
collected, but KDOT is unable to estimate a fiscal effect. Any
fiscal effect associated with the bill is not reflected in The FY
2022 Governor’s Budget Report.
Mobile telephone; distracted driving; school zone; construction zone; hands-free


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 8-2118, 8-1556, 8-2118c
As Amended by Senate Committee: 8-2118, 8-1556, 8-2118c