SESSION OF 2021
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2229
As Amended by House Committee on Judiciary

Brief*
HB 2229, as amended, would amend law related to theft
and the value of loss thresholds that make the penalty for
certain crimes a felony.

Theft of Mail
The bill would amend the crime of theft to make theft of
property that is mail of the value of less than $1,500 from
three separate locations within a period of 72 hours as part of
the same act or transaction, or in two or more acts or
transactions connected together or constituting parts of a
common scheme or course of conduct, a severity level 9,
nonperson felony. [Note: Under continuing law, theft of
property or services of the value of less than $1,500 is a class
A nonperson misdemeanor, unless an exception such as that
created by the bill applies.]
The bill would define “mail” as a letter, postal card,
package, or bag sent through the U.S. Postal Service or other
delivery service, or any other article or thing contained
therein, or a sealed article or thing addressed to a person.

Felony Loss Thresholds
The bill would amend the penalty provisions of various
crimes in which the penalty level depends on monetary value
to increase the loss ceiling for a misdemeanor from less than
____________________
*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
$1,000 to less than $1,500. The corresponding floors for the
lowest felony penalties and floors or ceilings for applicable
exceptions would be changed to $1,500. The crimes that
would be affected are:
● Theft of property lost, mislaid, or delivered by
mistake;
● Criminal damage to property;
● Giving a worthless check;
● Counterfeiting;
● Criminal use of a financial card;
● Impairing a security interest;
● Medicaid fraud;
● Official misconduct;
● Presenting or permitting a false claim;
● Misuse of public funds; and
● Criminal desecration.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Judiciary at the request of Amazon.com, Inc. As introduced,
the bill contained the provisions regarding mail theft.


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House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on February 9, 2021, a
representative of the Kansas Chamber and a representative
of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police, Kansas Peace
Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs Association testified
as proponents of the bill, stating the the bill would address a
significant increase in theft of retail mail and deliveries from
home porches and mailboxes.
No other testimony was provided.
On February 18, 2021, the House Committee amended
the bill to add the provisions of HB 2028, as recommended by
the House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice,
regarding felony loss thresholds.
Background of HB 2028 (Felony Loss Thresholds)
HB 2028 was prefiled for introduction on December 31,
2020, at the request of the Joint Committee on Corrections
and Juvenile Justice Oversight.
[Note: HB 2028 contains provisions similar to those of
2020 HB 2485, as recommended by the House Committee on
Corrections and Juvenile Justice.]
House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
In the House Committee hearing on HB 2028 on
January 19, 2021, proponent testimony was provided by a
representative of the Kansas Sentencing Commission
(Commission), who indicated the bill would align certain loss
limits of property crimes with that of theft.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of the Kansas Association of Criminal
Defense Lawyers and the Kansas County and District
Attorneys Association.

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 No other testimony was provided.

Fiscal Information

HB 2229 (Mail Theft)
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2229, as introduced, the Commission
estimates enactment of HB 2229 may have an impact on
prison admissions and bed space, but the effect cannot be
determined at this time.
The Office of Judicial Administration (OJA) indicates
enactment of HB 2229 could require more supervision of
offenders by court services officers, which could be handled
within existing resources. The Department of Corrections
(KDOC) indicates enactment of the bill would have no fiscal
effect on the agency. Any fiscal effect associated with
enactment of HB 2229 is not reflected in The FY 2022
Governor’s Budget Report.

HB 2028 (Felony Loss Thresholds)
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2028, OJA indicates enactment of the bill
would increase cases supervised by court services officers,
but OJA does not anticipate the need to hire additional
personnel. OJA also indicates enactment of the bill would
result in decreased revenues to the Correctional Supervision
Fund and the State General Fund. OJA also indicates the
higher monetary thresholds in the bill could increase the
number of misdemeanor cases in the courts, which have
lower probation and correctional supervision fees compared
to those of felonies, with current felony fees being $120 and
current misdemeanor fees being $60. OJA states the fiscal
effect is unknown because the additional number and type of
cases cannot be estimated.

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 The Commission estimates enactment of HB 2028
would result in a decrease of 2 adult prison beds in use each
year over a 10-year forecasting period, with the current
estimated bed capacity at 9,420 beds for male inmates and
948 beds for female inmates. Based upon the Commission’s
most recent 10-year projection, it is estimated that the year-
end population for available male capacity will be under
capacity by 1,287 inmates in FY 2021 and 1,241 inmates in
FY 2022. KDOC indicates the reduction in prison population
would not be sufficient to reduce current prison expenditures.
KDOC notes the reduction would be beneficial for avoiding
future prison costs and would improve the ability to socially
distance inmates to help mitigate the spread of the
coronavirus in the facility and among staff working at the
facility and inmates released into the community.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of HB 2028
is not reflected in The FY 2022 Governor’s Budget Report.
Theft of mail and packages; felony loss thresholds


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Statutes affected:
As introduced: 21-5801
As Amended by House Committee: 21-5801, 21-5802, 21-5813, 21-5821, 21-5825, 21-5828, 21-5830, 21-5927, 21-6002, 45-221, 21-6004, 21-6005, 21-6205