Criminal Legal Reform

In a historic move the ACLU of Kansas hopes will normalize the use of executive clemency, Governor Laura Kelly today released three affiliate clients from various state prisons via commutation.

The American Civil Liberties Union in 2024 attempted to abolish the death penalty in Kansas, citing its ineffectiveness in deterring crime and propensity for racial biases.

“The clemency process provides a second chance in a criminal legal system that has been shown to be overly punitive and devastating to families and communities,” the ACLU statement said. “This process includes careful consideration by the governor on a case by case basis.”

This bill undermines judicial discretion and disproportionately harms low-income Kansans by mandating arrest and imposing stricter pretrial conditions based solely on charge level rather than individualized risk. These measures will only serve to increase incarceration rates and deepen systemic inequities. This bill significantly limits judicial discretion by prohibiting courts from issuing summonses in felony cases, regardless of individual circumstances. Removing this discretion undermines a core principle of our justice system: decisions should be based on individuals, not just the charges against them. For individuals living paycheck to paycheck, even short periods of pretrial detention can result in job loss, eviction, disruptions to childcare, and financial instability. Wealthier defendants are better positioned to absorb these mandated disruptions or post secured bond; poorer defendants are not.

This bill expands county sheriffs’ authority and the authority of jails not operated by sheriffs to indefinitely detain individuals for civil immigration purposes, insulates law enforcement from accountability, and removes longstanding democratic oversight. The combined effects of this bill—which is part of a larger legislative attack on immigrants and people of color—raise serious constitutional concerns. It significantly expands the authority of federal law enforcement in Kansas, weakens accountability, and threatens Kansans’ right to engage in lawful dissent.

Expanding pre-trial detention practices by reducing how jail credits are applied, imposing more rigid sentencing rules, and setting mandatory minimum bond amounts.

Limiting the use of a summons instead of a warrant for the arrest of a defendant to misdemeanor crimes and requiring that any bond set on a warrant issued after a failure to appear in response to a summons shall not allow release on the defendant's own recognizance.