Analysis Area 1: Analyze crime trends, including recent increases in of violent crime, to help the state understand the impacts of these trends on the criminal justice system, and maintain recent changes that make more effective use of corrections resources, including prison space.
Background: The June 2020 prison population report in Kansas shows the state prisons are operating at 91 percent of capacity. But this figure masks the reality that as recently as March 2020, the Kansas prisons were reported to be operating at 100 percent of capacity by the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC). And, prior to the dramatic population declines from 10,031 people in March 2020 to 9,189 in June 2020 , the prison population was projected to increase 14 percent by fiscal year (FY) 2029, costing the state an estimated additional $209 million. Kansas had the seventh-largest violent crime rate increase in the nation between 2010 and 2018, and people sentenced to prison for violent offenses made up more than half of the prison population in FY2019.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions in November with the KCJRC Proportionality/Guidelines subcommittee and the full KCJRC as they voted on recommendations. The full KCJRC approved and included all of the CSG Justice Center recommendations on violent crime, sentencing, and victims’ services in their final report to the 2021 legislature. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities, including final findings and recommendations on violent crime, sentencing, and victims’ services, in a presentation to the Kansas Joint Legislative Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice.
Analysis Area 2: Analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of community supervision to understand the causes of recidivism and technical violations that result in jail and prison admissions and strengthen community supervision by expanding resources to improve supervision success rates.
Background: Sending people to prison for community supervision sanctions, violations, and revocations has historically contributed substantially to prison population pressures in Kansas. In FY2019, two-thirds of all prison admissions were due to probation sanctions and violations (46 percent) or violations of parole (20 percent). The majority of these admissions were for violations of supervision conditions or supervision sanctions, rather than for new offenses. Breaking these numbers down by sex reveals that nearly two-thirds of women admitted to prison in FY2019 were admitted for probation sanctions or violations, compared to fewer than half of men. Ultimately, people returning to prison due to supervision violations is expensive and consumes state dollars and resources that could be allocated for more effective public safety responses to supervision violations.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions in November with the KCJRC Diversion/Supervision/Specialty Courts/Specialty Prisons Subcommittee and the full KCJRC as they voted on recommendations. The full KCJRC approved and included all of the CSG Justice Center recommendations on community supervision in their final report to the 2021 legislature. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities, including final findings and recommendations on community supervision, in a presentation to the Kansas Joint Legislative Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice.
Analysis Area 3: Assess the state’s response to people in the criminal justice system with behavioral health needs and identify opportunities for decreasing recidivism by helping people succeed upon release to the community.
Background: Gaps in Kansas’s behavioral health infrastructure, including a lack of hospital beds statewide and limited community mental health center access in rural areas, place pressure on Kansas’s prisons. When people are unable to access mental health resources, law enforcement and the courts often rely on incarceration to remove them from the community to ensure both individual and community safety, often with the unfulfilled hope that these people will receive needed treatment while incarcerated. Between FY2016 and FY2019, the number of people in prison with a serious mental health need increased nearly three times faster than the total prison population in Kansas. One-third (33 percent) of the people in prison in FY2019 had an identified mental health need, including 10 percent who were identified as having a severe and persistent mental illness.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions in November with the KCJRC Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Subcommittee and the full KCJRC as they voted on recommendations. The full KCJRC approved and included all of the CSG Justice Center recommendations on behavioral health in their final report to the 2021 legislature. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities, including final findings and recommendations on behavioral health, in a presentation to the Kansas Joint Legislative Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice.
Analysis Area 4: Assess the state’s current reentry efforts for expanding paths to successful employment, in part by increasing post-secondary education opportunities for incarcerated people and ensuring housing support after release, including for those who have mental illnesses, developmental disabilities, and other special needs.
Background: The majority of people released from prison each year need some type of programming or services: 75 percent need programming to address criminal thinking and social skills, 75 percent need substance use and recovery programming, 75 percent need education or employment services, and 20 percent need housing support. Due to limited KDOC capacity, however, access to these services varies widely and many people return to the community without receiving the assistance they need.
Update: CSG Justice Center staff continued discussions in November with the KCJRC Reentry Subcommittee and the full KCJRC as they voted on recommendations. The only CSG Justice Center recommendation that was modified was the removal of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) from the immediate recommendations. The full KCJRC approved and included all of the CSG Justice Center recommendations on reentry, education and employment, and housing in their final report to the 2021 legislature. CSG Justice Center staff also provided an update on JRI assessment activities, including final findings and recommendations on reentry, education and employment, and housing, in a presentation to the Kansas Joint Legislative Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice.
Other Updates:
All of the policy recommendations provided by the CSG Justice Center were voted on by the Commission in November. The only CSG Justice Center recommendation that was modified was the removal of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) from the immediate recommendations. All of the other recommendations passed unanimously and were included in the final report to the legislature.
There is strong support, particularly from the Commission and its legislative members, for extending the Commission for another year. The Commission is scheduled to end in December after their final report is delivered to the legislature.
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1. 11/2: Call with Representative (R) (District 74) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
2. 11/2: Call with Chief Executive Officer (Valeo Behavioral Health Care) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
3. 11/3: Call with Pastor (Berean Fellowship Church) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
4. 11/3: Call with Court Services Officer Specialist (Kansas Office of Judicial Administration) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
5. 11/3: Call with Director (Riley County Community Corrections) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
6. 11/3: Call with Chief of Police (Marysville Police Department) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
7. 11/3: Call with Sheriff (Ford County and Second Vice President of the KS Sheriff’s Association) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
8. 11/4: Call with Clinical Care Manager (Substance Abuse Center of Kansas) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
9. 11/4: Call with Law Professor (University of Washburn School of Law) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
10. 11/4: Call with Executive Director of Public Affairs, (KDOC) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
11. 11/4: Call with County Attorney (Thomas County), County Attorney (Osage County), and Chief General Criminal Trial Division (Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
12. 11/4: Call with District Court Judge (Johnson County) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
13. 11/5: Call with Chief Judge (31st Judicial District, Allen County) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
14. 11/5: Call with District Attorney (Wyandotte County) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
15. 11/9: Call with the full KCJRC to provide supporting evidence from assessment findings as members voted on recommendations to include in their legislative report.
16. 11/10: Call with Senator R) (District 35) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
17. 11/12: Call with Director of Rehabilitation Services (Department of Children and Families “DCF”), Program Manager (End-Dependence Kansas, DCF), East Region Program Administrator (DCF), and Executive Director of Programs & Risk Reduction (KDOC) to discuss recommendations provided to the KCJRC Reentry Subcommittee as well as other strategies to strengthen collaboration and coordination between KDOC and DCF and next steps for moving forward on recommendations.
18. 11/12: Call with Law Professor (University of Washburn School of Law) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
19. 11/12: Call with Secretary (Kansas Department of Corrections) to discuss assessment findings and potential recommendations under consideration by the KCJRC.
20. 11/18: Call with District Attorney (Sedgwick County and Chair, KCJRC) to discuss follow-up from presentations to the Joint Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee.
21. 11/23: Call with the full KCJRC to provide supporting evidence from assessment findings as members voted on recommendations to include in their legislative report.
• 11/9: Full KCJRC Meeting
o CSG Justice Center staff attended the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission Meeting and provided supporting evidence from assessment findings as members voted on recommendations to include in their legislative report.
• 11/17: Joint Corrections and Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee Meeting
o CSG Justice Center staff attended the meeting and presented on assessment findings and recommendations under consideration by the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission.
• 11/23: Full KCJRC Meeting
o CSG Justice Center staff attended the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission Meeting and provided supporting evidence from assessment findings as members voted on recommendations to include in their legislative report.
• WATCH: A career Prosecuting Violent Crimes Gives District Attorney Perspective on Drug-Related Offenses
• WATCH: Facing Budget Shortfall, Kansas Rep. Owens Says Criminal Justice Changes Could Be Solution
• State Commission Forwards Criminal Justice Reform Items to Legislature
In November, CSG Justice Center research staff created prison population projections for hypothetical increases and decreases in the number of parole revocations, based on trends in prior fiscal years as well as more recent activity from this fiscal year.
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