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July 2022
Sentencing Commission Receives Significant Grant to Develop Electronic Journal Entry Project
On July 15, 2022, the Council for State Governments Justice Center notified the Kansas Sentencing Commission (KSSC) their grant application to the United States Department of Justice was approved. The $282,000 award will assist in contracting with a vendor to develop an electronic journal entry (eJE) for criminal justice practitioners statewide. The KSSC has been in collaboration with the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration to integrate the eJE project with OJA’s already established eFile system. The Commission is required by law to maintain three forms required in felony sentencing. The presentence investigation report, journal entry of judgment, and journal entry of probation violation hearing are affected. KSSC Executive Director Scott Schultz said, “The development of this project is vital to bring sentencing in Kansas into the 21st century. The eJE project is being designed and is in consultation with practitioners to make it as user-friendly as possible. We aim to seamlessly integrate the new electronic forms into the eFile system to save thousands of resource hours for clerks, attorneys, and judges. It will also provide robust data collection for the agency to provide the continued value our stakeholders expect from us.” Work will start shortly on the project and its completion is anticipated by the end of 2022. More details on training will be available later in the year.
KSSC Welcomes Gwyn Harvey
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As a result of SB 408 becoming law, KSSC is pleased to now have all the SB 123 program staff under one agency. On June 13, Gwyn Harvey transferred from KDOC to KSSC. Gwyn has a bachelor’s degree in Communications / Psychology from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota and is also a Licensed Addictions Counselor. She has worked in all aspects of Substance Use Disorder Treatment services with both adults and juveniles for over 25 years. In addition to direct practice, she also values the opportunities she has had over the years collaborating with community partners, developing curricula, overseeing program audits and providing mentorship to new SB123 Substance Use Disorder Treatment providers and counselors.
In her role as the SB123 Program Consultant and as a part of the SB123 team, she is responsible for the Cognitive Behavioral Intervention trainings, supervision of approved treatment providers and compliance reviews with all SB123 approved treatment providers across the state of Kansas. She also conducts the approval process with new SB123 provider applicants.
When Gwyn is not at work, she enjoys being outdoors, cooking and making floral arrangements. She also enjoys spending time with her husband Todd, grandson Sebastian, two labs, Cole and Shayla and her cat Teddy.
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In the 2022 Legislative Session, several statutory changes were passed that will affect criminal law practice, including changes in criminal penalties, the addition of new crimes, and changes to crimes that already exist. The Legislative Summary is not a comprehensive list of all the changes made during the Legislative Session. The Summary is available here.
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The Kansas Sentencing Commission would like to announce that Jason Lamprecht has been promoted to the position of Senior Research Analyst. Jason started with the Commission in April of 2021 as a Research Analyst and over the past year has demonstrated that he is an asset to the agency and ready to take on the Senior Analyst position. Congratulations, Jason!
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Recent Cases Affecting Criminal Sentencing*
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The Court of Appeals recently held that, “when the State chooses to consolidate cases for trial because the charges could have been brought in one charging document, then the State must be held to the sentencing limitations—applying only one base sentence— applicable to a trial based on one charging document.” State v. Myers, 62 Kan.App.2d 149, 193, 509 P.3d 563 (Kan. App. 2022).
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Where a defendant argued that his two cases were effectively consolidated, The Court of Appeals found that the cases counted as prior convictions for criminal history purposes because the cases were never joined for trial. See State v. Shipley, 510 P.3d 1194, 1201 (Kan. App. May 27th, 2022).
*This is not an exhaustive list of cases affecting sentencing. To view all recent cases, click here.
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KSSC welcomes Kilye Hucks! She is a summer intern with the Research Department. She is originally from Ottumwa, IA. She just finished her junior year at North Carolina State University as a criminology major and is set to graduate spring of 2023. At NC State, she has found a passion for Student Government and policy as well as a growing fire for data science and research. She is looking forward to growing these passions with KSSC this summer. Welcome, Kilye! |
Click here for updates on the RAFT (previously 2021 HB 2026) Diversion Program.
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