Today, Governor Laura Kelly signed House Bill 2026 into law, creating a drug abuse treatment program for people on diversion.
“This bill is a significant step towards criminal justice reform in Kansas,” said Governor Laura Kelly. “Through this new drug abuse treatment program, our judicial system can redirect individuals struggling with addiction to the services they need to get healthy and successfully reenter society. I want to thank the entire legislature for passing this important legislation.”
More information about House Bill 2026 can be found here.
Additionally, Governor Kelly today signed the following bipartisan legislation into law:
Transferring duties concerning address confidentiality program (safe at home) and the registration of charitable organizations from the secretary of state to the attorney general, enacting the Kansas fights addiction act to establish a grant program for the purpose of preventing, reducing, treating and mitigating the effects of substance abuse and addiction and requiring posting of a human trafficking awareness notice approved by the attorney general in certain businesses and public places.
Establishing the joint committee on child welfare system oversight, providing certain exceptions to the confidentiality of state child death review board documents, requiring visual observation of an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect as part of an investigation, exempting the caregiver of a child in state out-of-home placement from the child care assistance 20-hour-per-week work requirement, permitting the secretary for children and families to license certain family foster homes where a former foster care youth with certain juvenile adjudications resides making permanent provisions for the advisory committee on trauma and the statewide trauma system regional council to conduct closed meetings and keep privileged records regarding trauma cases.
HB-2158 contains Adrian’s Law (requiring visual observation of an alleged victim of child abuse or neglect as part of an investigation). The bill is name after Adrian Jones of Kansas City, Kansas, a 7-year-old boy who was murdered by his father and stepmother after years of reported abuse went uninvestigated.
Expanding the definition of “infectious disease” in certain statutes related to crimes in which bodily fluids may have been transmitted from one person to another.
Senate Substitute for Substitute for HB 2397 by Committee on Ways and Means – Reconciling conflicting amendments to certain statutes.