Kansas House Bill HB2212

Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/3/25
• Refer: 2/3/25
• Report Pass: 2/13/25
• Engrossed: 2/19/25
• Refer: 2/20/25
• Report Pass: 3/7/25
• Refer: 1/12/26
• Report Pass: 3/9/26
• Enrolled: 3/24/26
• Passed: 4/9/26

Caption

Senate Substitute for HB 2212 by Committee on Judiciary - Authorizing the governor to make a declaration of need for enhanced public safety and security for an extraordinary event and providing certain powers to the governor during a period of such declaration.

Summary

HB 2212 amends Kansas law governing limited reimbursements that the secretary of corrections may make to inmates for personal injury or property damage or loss caused by negligence. The bill increases the maximum reimbursement amount from $500 to $750 for claims handled internally by the Department of Corrections. It also requires an inmate to give notice to the secretary of the nature, time, date, and place of any claim exceeding $750, while preserving the ability of such claims to still be considered by the joint committee on claims against the state even if notice is not provided. The bill also preserves and clarifies the state’s ability to apply inmate payments toward outstanding restitution obligations. If an inmate owes unpaid restitution, money received from the state through a claim settlement or civil judgment may be set off against that restitution, both while incarcerated and while on post-release supervision, parole, or conditional release. The bill includes procedures for vouchers, priority among multiple restitution orders, and forwarding collected funds to the appropriate district court clerk for disbursement.

Impact

HB 2212 amends K.S.A. 46-920, increasing the reimbursement cap for inmate negligence claims and adding a notice requirement for claims above the new threshold. It also reinforces the setoff process for unpaid restitution by allowing the Department of Corrections and the state to intercept certain settlement or judgment payments owed to inmates and apply them to court-ordered restitution. The bill affects the Department of Corrections, inmates with claims against the state, and inmates with outstanding restitution obligations, while leaving the broader special claims process intact.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests broad bipartisan support for the bill, with large margins in both chambers and only a small number of مخالف votes. No committee transcript is available, but the final votes indicate the measure was generally noncontroversial and likely viewed as a modest administrative update rather than a major policy change.

Contention

The main policy issue appears to be the balance between increasing inmate reimbursement for negligence-related losses and preserving state control over claims and restitution offsets. Potential points of concern would include whether the higher reimbursement cap could increase state liability exposure, and whether the setoff provisions sufficiently protect restitution recipients by prioritizing court-ordered payments over inmate access to settlement funds. The strong vote totals suggest any disagreement was limited and did not prevent passage.