SESSION OF 2022
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE SUBSTITUTE FOR
SUBSTITUTE FOR SENATE BILL NO. 286
As Amended by House Committee of the Whole

Brief*
House Sub. for Sub. for SB 286, as amended, would
amend and extend the expiration dates and effectiveness of
provisions regarding the governmental response to the
COVID-19 pandemic; create the crime of interference with the
conduct of a hospital; and increase the penalty for the crime
of battery when committed against a healthcare provider.
The bill also would make technical amendments to
update statutory references and remove outdated language.
The bill would be in effect upon publication in the
Kansas Register.

Governmental Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic
The bill would extend the expiration dates and
effectiveness of various provisions regarding the
governmental response to the COVID-19 pandemic from
March 31, 2022, until January 20, 2023.
The provisions that would be extended include:
● Expansion of telemedicine;
● Use of hospital beds and non-hospital space;

____________________
*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
 ● Immunity from civil liability for health care providers
related to the COVID-19 public health emergency;
● Immunity from civil liability for COVID-19 claims for
businesses in substantial compliance with public
health directives;
● Retroactivity provisions regarding immunity from
civil liability; and
● Bed usage by critical access hospitals.
The bill also would amend the provisions regarding
immunity from civil liability for healthcare providers to provide
such immunity from civil liability that “arise[s] out of or
relate[s] to” specified circumstances, rather than “for”
specified circumstances. The specified circumstances would
be amended to include services that are altered, delayed, or
withheld “related” to the COVID-19 public health emergency,
rather than “as a direct response” to the COVID-19 public
health emergency.

Interference With the Conduct of a Hospital
The bill would would create the crime of interference
with the conduct of a hospital, which would be defined as:
● Conduct at or in a hospital so as to knowingly deny
an employee of the hospital to enter, to use the
facilities of, or to leave any such hospital;
● Knowingly impeding any employee of a hospital
from the performance of such employee’s duties or
activities through the use of restraint, abduction,
coercion, or intimidation, or by force and violence
or threat thereof; or
● Knowingly refusing to leave a hospital upon being
requested to leave by the employee charged with

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 maintaining order in such hospital, if such person is
committing, threatens to commit, or incites others
to commit any act that did, or would if completed,
disrupt, impair, interfere with, or obstruct the
mission, processes, procedures, or functions of the
hospital.
The bill also would create the crime of aggravated
interference with the conduct of a hospital, which would be
defined as any of the above conduct when in possession of
any weapon included in the crimes of criminal use of
weapons or criminal carrying of a weapon.
For purposes of the new crimes, the bill would define
“employee” to mean a person employed by, providing
healthcare services at, volunteering at, or participating in an
educational course of instruction as a hospital; and would
define “hospital” to mean the same as defined in statutes
governing the licensing, inspection, and regulation of
hospitals.
Interference with the conduct of a hospital would be a
class A nonperson misdemeanor, and aggravated
interference with the conduct of a hospital would be a severity
level 6 person felony.

Battery Against a Healthcare Provider
The bill would amend the crime of battery to define
battery against a healthcare provider as a battery committed
against a healthcare provider while such provider is engaged
in the performance of such provider’s duty. “Healthcare
provider” would be defined to mean a person who is licensed,
registered, certified, or otherwise authorized by the State of
Kansas to provide healthcare services in this state and
employed or providing healthcare services at a hospital.
Battery against a healthcare provider would be a class A
person misdemeanor.

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Background
As referred to the House Committee on Judiciary on
May 5, 2021, Sub. for SB 286 contained provisions regarding
COVID-19 business relief. These provisions were passed in
the conference committee report for 2021 House Sub. for
Sub. for SB 273, which was vetoed by the Governor on May
21, 2021.
On February 17, 2022, the House Committee on
Judiciary recommended a substitute bill for Sub. for SB 286
containing contents modified from HB 2652.
On March 9, 2022, the House Committee of the Whole
amended the bill to:
● Adjust the healthcare provider civil immunity
provision;
● Add the provisions of HB 2620, as amended by
House Committee, regarding interference with the
conduct of a hospital and battery against a
healthcare provider; and
● Make a technical amendment.
HB 2652 (Governmental Response to COVID-19 and
Other Provisions)
HB 2652 was introduced by the House Committee on
Judiciary at the request of a representative of the Kansas
Chamber of Commerce, Kansas Health Care Association,
and Kansas Hospital Association.
House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on February 14, 2022,
a representative of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, a
representative of the Kansas Center for Assisted Living and
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Kansas Health Care Association, and a representative of the
Kansas Academy for Family Physicians, Kansas Hospital
Association, and Kansas Medical Society testified as
proponents of the bill, stating it would continue to help
facilitate the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Representatives of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of
Commerce, InterHab, Kansas Adult Care Executives, and
LeadingAge Kansas provided written-only proponent
testimony. A private citizen testified as an opponent of the
bill, stating concerns with the telemedicine and other
provisions.
On February 17, 2022, the House Committee adopted
an amendment removing a section enacted earlier this year in
HB 2477. The House Committee then recommended the
contents of Sub. for SB 286, as amended by the Senate
Committee of the Whole, be replaced with the amended
language of HB 2652 as a House substitute bill.

HB 2620 (Crimes – Hospitals and Healthcare Providers)
HB 2620 was introduced by Representatives
Featherston, Concannon, Burroughs, Byers, Clifford, Eplee,
Haswood, Hoye, Timothy Johnson, Meyer, Neelly, Ousley,
Poskin, Susan Ruiz, Schmidt, Schreiber, Vaughn, Wolfe
Moore, and Xu.
House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on February 10, 2022,
representatives of AdventHealth Shawnee Mission,
Ascension Via Christi Hospitals Wichita, Kansas Hospital
Association, Kansas State Nurses Association, NMC Health,
Saint Luke’s Health System, Stormont Vail Health; a
representative of the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police,
Kansas Peace Officers Association, and Kansas Sheriffs
Association; and a physician and three nurses testified as
proponents of the bill. Generally, proponents stated violence
in health care facilities and against health care workers has
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risen over the past decade, which is harming employees,
disrupting care, and affecting staffing levels. Written-only
proponent testimony was provided by a physician, a nurse,
and representatives of the Kansas County and District
Attorneys Association and the Kansas Emergency Nurses
Association. No other testimony was provided.
On February 15, 2022, the House Committee amended
the bill to define “employee” and modify the definition of
“healthcare provider.”

Fiscal Information

HB 2652
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2652, as introduced, the Board of Healing
Arts indicates enactment of the bill would have a negligible
fiscal effect that would be absorbed within existing resources.
The Judicial Branch states enactment of the bill would not
have a fiscal effect. The fiscal effect for the provisions
regarding hospital usage cannot be estimated. Any fiscal
effect associated with enactment of HB 2652 is not reflected
in The FY 2023 Governor’s Budget Report.

HB 2620
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on HB 2620, as introduced, the Kansas
Sentencing Commission estimates enactment of the bill could
have an effect on prison admissions and bed space, but the
effect cannot be determined because the bill would create
new factual circumstances that are not currently tracked. The
Department of Corrections indicates enactment of the bill
would have no fiscal effect.
The Office of Judicial Administration indicates enactment
of the bill could increase the number of cases filed in district
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courts due to the new crimes, which could increase the time
spent by court personnel handling such cases. The
misdemeanor penalties could require more supervision of
offenders by court services officers. Enactment of the bill
could result in the collection of additional docket fees,
supervision fees, and fines assessed in cases filed under the
bill’s provisions, but a fiscal effect cannot be determined
because the number of additional cases cannot be estimated.
Any fiscal effect associated with enactment of HB 2620
is not reflected in The FY 2023 Governor’s Budget Report.
Governmental response to Covid-19; telemedicine; hospital beds; health care
provider immunity; pandemic; crimes; interference with the conduct of a hospital;
battery against a healthcare provider


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Statutes affected:
Sub: 48-933
{As Amended by Senate Committee of the Whole}: 48-933
H Sub for Sub: 48-963, 48-964, 65-425, 60-5503, 60-5504, 60-5508, 65-468
{As Amended by House Committee of the Whole}: 21-5413, 65-425, 48-963, 48-964, 60-5503, 60-5504, 60-5508, 65-468
{As Further Amended by House Committee of the Whole}: 21-5413, 65-425, 48-963, 48-964, 60-5503, 60-5504, 60-5508, 65-468