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April 2023
Click here to read the status of the KSSC bills from the 2023 Kansas Legislative Session.
KSSC Welcomes Rep. Stephen Owens
Rep. Stephen Owens has been appointed to serve as a member of the Kansas Sentencing Commission. Stephen Owens and his wife Rose live in Hesston Kansas where they raised their 3 children. Stephen graduated with his Bachelors of Science degrees in Accounting and Business Administration from Bethel College and went on to earn his Masters of Business Administration from Southwestern College in 2003. He spent the next 20+ years building multiple companies that currently operate in various industry sectors.
Stephen is currently honored to serve as the State Representative for the 74th House District in Kansas since 2018. His experience working in the criminal justice system allows him to currently serve as the Chairman of the Corrections / Juvenile Justice Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Joint Corrections / Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee as well as serving as a member of both the Judiciary and Appropriations committee. Welcome to KSSC, Rep. Owens!
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Join us April 27th at NOON for a FREE webinar!
Francis Givens, KSSC Special Projects Manager, will review the process for classifying prior convictions for criminal history purposes using Kansas statutes and case law. Prior to the webinar, attendees will be able to ask questions and list specific sentencing topics they would like to see covered during the presentation.
Approved for one Kansas CLE credit.
Register here!
This training is limited to attorneys. Please contact Francis Givens with any questions.
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Recent Cases Affecting Sentencing in Kansas*
- Where the district court consolidated a defendant’s 3 cases and sentenced the defendant using a separate primary crime for each, the Kansas Court of Appeals remanded the case for the district court to designate a base sentence for the most severe crime among the three cases to serve as the base sentence for all. See State v. Anderson, No. 124,727, 2023 WL 176658 at *6, (Kan. App. January 13th, 2023) (unpublished opinion). The Court of Appeals found the differential treatment violated his constitutional right to equal protection because Anderson's controlling prison sentence was several months longer than it would have been if the State had filed only one charging document. Id. at *1.
- The Kansas Court of Appeals recently found that a defendant’s 615-month sentence for crimes involving sexual violence committed as a juvenile was not the functional equivalent of life in prison without the possibility of parole. See Steele v. State, No. 125,240, 2023 WL 2344619 at *4 (Kan. App. March 3, 2023) (unpublished opinion).
- In a burglary case, the Kansas Court of Appeals recently rejected the notion that the district court was required to consider the fair market value of property before determining restitution for the repair of the damaged property. See State v. Goertzen, No. 124,561, 2023 WL 334677 at *3 (Kan. App. January 20, 2023) (unpublished opinion).
*This is not an exhausted list of cases affecting sentencing. To view all recent cases, click here.
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