Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 larry.campbell@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 Division of the Budget http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor


February 8, 2021


The Honorable Larry Alley, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
Statehouse, Room 136-E
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Alley:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 79 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 79 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 79 would grant the State Fire Marshal and investigators of the State Fire Marshal the
authority to make arrests and conduct searches and seizures while investigating violations of laws
enforced or administered by the State Fire Marshal. The bill would authorize such investigators
to enforce all criminal laws of the state. Whenever the death of a person occurs as a result of fire,
or when the body of a deceased person is discovered at the scene of a fire, the bill would require
an investigation regarding the circumstances of the death to be initiated by the chief of the
organized fire department or the chief law enforcement officer if no local fire department exists.
The bill would require the State Fire Marshal to assist the official who initiates any such
investigation. The bill would also require the sale and purchase of any item of clothing or
equipment intended to protect firefighters from death or injury to meet or exceed the minimum
standards established for such clothes or equipment in the standards of the National Fire Protection
Association designated by the State Fire Marshal by adoption of rules and regulations.
The Office of the State Fire Marshal indicates that enactment of the bill would have no
fiscal effect because the additional number of fatality fire cases its investigators would be involved
in could be absorbed within existing resources. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 79 is not
reflected in The FY 2022 Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates that enactment of the bill could result in
situations where counties must replace firefighting equipment prior to the end of its useful life if
new standards are adopted that do not allow the existing equipment. However, a precise fiscal
The Honorable Larry Alley, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 79

effect cannot be estimated. The League of Kansas Municipalities indicates that enactment of the
bill would have a negligible fiscal effect on cities that could be absorbed within existing resources.


Sincerely,

Adam Proffitt
Director of the Budget

cc: Jill McCarthy, Office of the Fire Marshal
Wendi Stark, League of Municipalities
Jay Hall, Association of Counties


Statutes affected:
As introduced: 31-158