Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas House Bill HB2401

Introduced

3/5/25

Refer

3/5/25

Caption

Providing that prior convictions of a crime that is determined unconstitutional by an appellate court shall not be used for criminal history scoring purposes unless the basis of the determination of unconstitutionality by the appellate court is later overruled or reversed.

Impact

If enacted, HB 2401 would significantly alter the landscape of criminal history evaluations in Kansas. Currently, prior convictions contribute to an individual's criminal history score and can impact sentencing outcomes. By excluding unconstitutional convictions, the bill seeks to promote fairness and justice within the judicial system, allowing offenders who were penalized under invalid laws to have their pasts treated with greater leniency. This aligns with a larger trend in criminal justice reform, focusing on reducing recidivism driven by outdated and unjust legal precedents.

Summary

House Bill 2401, proposed in the state of Kansas, addresses the treatment of prior criminal convictions that have been deemed unconstitutional by appellate courts. The bill stipulates that such convictions shall not be counted for criminal history scoring purposes, unless the ruling of unconstitutionality is later overturned or reversed by a higher court. This legislative attempt aims to reform sentencing practices by acknowledging the wrongful application of laws that no longer hold constitutional validity.

Contention

However, the bill is not without its contention. Critics may argue that the exclusion of certain convictions could undermine public safety or lead to perceived leniency for repeat offenders. There may be concerns regarding the subjective nature of determining which convictions are unconstitutional and the potential for abuse of these provisions by defendants attempting to evade responsibility for their actions. The bill's supporters, on the other hand, champion it as a necessary reform to rectify historical injustices within the criminal justice system, and as a necessary measure for promoting rehabilitation over punishment.

Latest KS HB2401 Activity

View All Events: KS 2025-2026 Regular Session HB2401

Companion Bills

No companion bills found.

Previously Filed As

KS SB6

Providing a sales tax exemption for sales of electricity to residential premises by municipally owned or operated utilities.

KS HB2003

Establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, modifying the definition of household income and increasing the appraised value threshold for eligibility of seniors and disabled veterans related to increased property tax claims and citing the section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, providing property tax exemptions for certain personal property including watercraft, marine equipment, off-road vehicles, motorized bicycles and certain trailers, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value, providing for certain exclusions from the prohibition of paying taxes under protest after a valuation notice appeal and providing four prior years' values on the annual valuation notice.

KS HB2001

Authorizing the secretary of commerce to enter into agreements with major professional sports franchises to establish STAR bond projects for a major professional sports complex, providing for additional revenue sources, expanding the powers and discretion of the secretary and making other changes to the STAR bonds financing act to facilitate such projects, limiting the secretary’s authority to approve such projects to one year unless extended by the legislative coordinating council, authorizing the Kansas development finance authority to issue STAR bonds for such projects, transferring funds under certain circumstances from the state gaming revenues fund to the attracting professional sports to Kansas fund for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, and, if approved by the legislative coordinating council, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026.

KS SB1

Modifying income tax rates for individuals, exempting all social security benefits from Kansas income tax, increasing the Kansas standard deduction and the Kansas personal exemption, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, decreasing the privilege tax normal tax, excluding internal revenue code section 1031 exchange transactions as indicators of fair market value for property tax valuation purposes, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund and abolishing the local ad valorem tax reduction fund and the county and city revenue sharing fund.

KS SB8

Exempting the sale of firearms, firearms accessories, ammunition, firearm safes and firearm safety devices from the retatilers' sales tax.

KS SB2

Eliminating the income limit to qualify for the subtraction modification exempting social security benefits, increasing the income tax credit amount for household and dependent care expenses, establishing the veterans' valor property tax relief act providing for an income tax credit or refund for eligible individuals, citing the increased property tax homestead refund claim section as the homeowners' property tax freeze program, decreasing the normal privilege tax rate, increasing the extent of property tax exemption for residential property from the statewide school levy, decreasing the rate of ad valorem tax imposed by a school district; providing for certain transfers to the state school district finance fund, reducing the state rate of tax on sales of food and food ingredients and modifying the percent credited to the state highway fund from revenue collected.

KS SB7

Authorizing federally licensed firearm dealers, in addition to county sheriffs, to receive applications for concealed carry licenses and forward such applications to the attorney general, prohibiting sheriffs from assessing any fee related to application services and allowing dealers to assess a fee related to application services not to exceed $20.

KS SCR1601

Informing the Governor that the two houses of the Legislature are organized and ready to receive communications.

KS SB3

Clarifying the procedures and restrictions on accepting a nomination for an elected office.

KS SR1701

Providing for the organization of the Senate for the 2024 special session of the Legislature.

Similar Bills

KS SB186

Modifying elements in the crimes of sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child and breach of privacy, prohibiting certain acts related to visual depictions in which the person depicted is indistinguishable from a real child, morphed from a real child's image or generated without any actual child involvement, prohibiting dissemination of certain items that appear to depict or purport to depict an identifiable person, requiring affidavits or sworn testimony in support of probable cause to be made available to law enforcement, requiring the statement of facts sufficient to show probable cause justifying a search warrant to be made by a law enforcement officer, requiring that certain prior convictions be considered when bond is being set for certain sex offenses and specifying minimum requirements and conditions for such bond; relating to appearance bonds, requiring warrants for failure to appear to be given to sureties, allowing bond forfeiture to be set aside in certain circumstances and requiring remission in certain circumstances and prohibiting a compensated surety from making a loan for certain portions of the minimum appearance bond premium required.

KS HB2747

Specifying that courts shall consider certain factors in determining whether a prior violation of law is comparable to any act described in certain driving under the influence crimes when calculating a person's criminal history score under the Kansas sentencing guidelines act.

KS SB183

Creating the crimes of interference with a security camera in a correctional facility and aggravated interference with a security camera in a correctional facility and providing criminal penalties therefor.

KS HB2324

Increasing the criminal penalty for possessing or refusing to surrender any firearm in or on any school property or grounds.

KS HB2331

Creating the crime of aggravated criminal desecration and providing penalties therefor, authorizing the disposition of the unclaimed remains of deceased persons by district coroners and providing exemptions from liability for such actions, establishing requirements for programs of continuing education for licensed embalmers and funeral directors and authorizing the use of the word "crematory" as part of the business name for businesses owned by the same person who owns a licensed crematory.

KS HB2372

Creating the crime of unlawful approach of a first responder and providing penalties therefore, requiring traffic laws that apply to local and state law enforcement to apply to federal law enforcement; including federal law enforcement in the definitions used in the crime of interference with law enforcement; including buildings owned by the United States in the crime of interference with the conduct of public business of public buildings; including enforcement of federal laws and executive orders in the exceptions from liability in the tort claims act, relating to the enforcement of detainers issued by the United States immigration and customs enforcement by a county sheriff operating a county jail; requiring municipal insurance pools to provide coverage of law enforcement agencies enforcing federal law; requiring the state to pay certain judgements in federal civil actions and provide legal representation by the attorney general, exempting section 287(g) federal immigration agreements from certain provisions of the interlocal cooperation act.

KS SB452

Including federal law enforcement officers in the definition of law enforcement officer that is used in certain crimes and traffic provisions and clarifying that enforcement of a federal law is covered under the tort claims act.

KS SB506

Increasing the penalty for a second or subsequent adjudication of criminal use of weapons and modifying the penalties for the crime of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and the length of the ban on possessing a weapon for certain felons.