The 2022 Session began January 10. The following is a summary of information from this week at the legislature.
Hearings Scheduled for Week of January 17-21
List of law enforcement related bills for 2022 Session
List of law enforcement related bills from 2021 Session
The first week of the new legislative session is now behind us. This year things have gotten to a little faster start than in the past.
Key Events of the Past Week
- Rep. Steve Owens, Hesston, is now the chair of the House Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee. He invited our associations (KSA, KPOA, KPOA) to present to the committee on the current challenges and needs of Kansas law enforcement. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter presented for the KSA; Chief Darrell Atteberry, Bel Aire PD, for the KACP; and Deputy Chief Paul Schliffke, Wamego PD, for the KPOA. Those three associations submitted joint written testimony with each presenter speaking on selected topics. He also invited the Kansas Trooper’s Association to present. The presentations were well received. You can see the written testimony at this link. A video of the presentation is available at this link.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on HB 2228 – Requiring law enforcement agencies to adopt a policy regarding submission of sexual assault evidence kits and allowing evidence collection at child advocacy centers or other facilities. They then approved recommending the bill favorably after making technical amendments to it. It is now on the Senate General Orders awaiting floor debate.
- The Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee was briefed on the marijuana bill passed by the House last year, SB158. That bill is now in the Senate for consideration. The presentations were by the Legislative Research Department and by the Office of the Revisor. The accompanying written documents to those presentations are available at these links: Research Presentation and Revisor. The video of this presentation is available at this link. Hearings on the bill were scheduled for January 18 and 19th. However, those were cancelled and have not been rescheduled. The bill was also reassigned from the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee to the Senate Interstate Cooperation Committee. The reasons for that move are not yet publicly available.
Updated information will be posted at this webpage.
