DA Bennett ignores over a dozen organizations asking to end wealth-based punishment in Sedgwick County

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 16, 2025

CONTACT: Esmie Tseng, [email protected]

WICHITA, Kansas – A week later, thirteen local organizations are still waiting for a response to their letter urging Sedgwick County District Attorney Marc Bennett to push his office to reduce the number of individuals impacted by pretrial detention.

The signatories consist of the ACLU of Kansas, Advocates for Immigrant Rights and Reconciliation, College Hill United Methodist Church, the Equity Initiative, Kansas Appleseed, Kansas Black Leadership Council, Kansas Interfaith Action, the Kansas Second Look Act Coalition, Loud Light, Masters and Mentors Youth Enrichment Strategies, Progeny, Safe Streets Wichita, Inc., and the Voice.

“Pretrial detention can have devastating consequences and should be used only when necessary. But in Kansas, this is not the case,” write the signatories. “Across Kansas, many individuals sit in jail because they do not have enough money to afford cash bail. Kansas’s system of money bail subverts the presumption of innocence to which criminal defendants are entitled and causes harm to individuals, their families, and entire communities.”

The letter, sent on Friday, October 10 came in the wake of a report released by the ACLU of Kansas earlier this summer finding significant financial and racial disparities in the Sedgwick County bail system and recent community concerns about the unfairness in how wealth determines defendants’ treatment and freedom before trial.

Currently, the majority of defendants in Sedgwick County have no attorney representation at their first appearance in court, where the judge imposes the bail amount recommended by the district attorney without question. As a result, the determining factor in whether a person accused of a crime has to defend their case from home or from the inside of a jail cell is their ability to pay their cash bond amount.

The organizations asked DA Bennett to issue an internal office memorandum making an Own Recognizance (OR) Bond the default for all defendants charged with nonperson misdemeanor and felony charges. The letter suggests that in some cases, where an OR bond is inappropriate due to aggravating factors, the District Attorney's office could recommend a cash bail amount that is reasonable in consideration of the individual's ability to pay and personal circumstances.

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About the ACLU of Kansas: The ACLU of Kansas is the statewide affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU of Kansas is dedicated to preserving and advancing the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. For more information, visit our website at www.aclukansas.org.