SESSION OF 2023
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2293
As Amended by Senate Committee on Judiciary
Brief*
HB 2293, as amended, would create law in the Kansas
Code of Criminal Procedure (Code) regarding jailhouse
witness testimony.
[Note: The bill would contain a whereas clause
designating its provisions as the Pete Coones Memorial Act.]
Disclosure Requirements
The bill would require, in any criminal prosecution, the
prosecuting attorney (prosecutor) to disclose any intent to
introduce testimony of a jailhouse witness, as defined by the
bill, regarding statements made by a suspect or defendant,
while the jailhouse witness and suspect or defendant were
both incarcerated, within the time provided by the section of
the Code governing discovery.
The bill would also require the prosecutor to disclose to
the defense:
●The criminal history of the jailhouse witness,
including pending or dismissed criminal charges;
●The jailhouse witness’s cooperation agreement and
any benefit, as defined by the bill, that has been
requested by, provided to, or will be provided in the
future to the witness;
____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org ●The contents of any statement allegedly given by
the suspect or defendant to the jailhouse witness
and the contents of any statement given by the
witness to law enforcement regarding the
statements allegedly made by the suspect or
defendant, including the time and place such
statements were given;
●Any information regarding the jailhouse witness
recanting testimony or statements, including the
time and place of recantation, the nature of the
recantation, and the names of the people present
at the recantation; and
●Any information regarding other criminal cases in
which the testimony of the jailhouse witness was
introduced or was intended to be introduced by a
prosecutor regarding statements made by a
suspect or defendant, including any cooperation
agreement and any benefit the witness received in
such case.
The court could allow the prosecutor to comply with
these disclosure requirements after the time limit described
above if the court finds the jailhouse witness was not known
or the information the bill requires to be disclosed could not
be discovered or obtained by the prosecutor exercising due
diligence within such time period.
If the court finds that disclosure of the above information
is likely to cause bodily harm to the jailhouse witness, the bill
would allow the court to order that the evidence be viewed
only by defense counsel and not by the defendant or others,
or issue a protective order.
Database
The bill would require each prosecutor’s office to
maintain a central record containing information regarding
2- 2293 cases in which jailhouse witness testimony is introduced or is
intended to be introduced by a prosecutor regarding
statements made by a suspect or defendant, the substance of
such testimony, and any benefit requested by, provided to, or
to be provided in the future to such witness in connection with
testimony provided by the witness.
The bill would require the prosecutor’s office to forward
this information to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI),
which would be required to maintain a statewide database of
such information. The database would be accessible only to
prosecutors and its records would otherwise remain
confidential and not subject to disclosure under the Kansas
Open Records Act (KORA), and this confidentiality provision
would not be subject to expiration or review under KORA.
Victim Notification
If a jailhouse witness receives any benefit in connection
with offering or providing testimony against a defendant, the
bill would require the prosecutor to notify any victim
connected to the criminal prosecution.
Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Judiciary at the request of a representative of the Innocence
Project.
House Committee on Judiciary
In the House Committee hearing on February 13, 2023,
representatives of the Board of Indigents’ Defense Services
(BIDS), the Innocence Project, and the Executive Director of
the Midwest Innocence Project provided proponent
testimony, generally stating the bill is an important step in
preventing wrongful convictions and creates critical
safeguards for the use of jailhouse witnesses in court.
3- 2293 A representative of Americans for Prosperity provided written-
only proponent testimony.
On February 15, 2023, opponent testimony was
provided by a representative of the Kansas County & District
Attorneys Association (KCDAA), generally stating the bill
proposes requirements already imposed by current statutes,
case law, rules of professional conduct, and court rules. No
other testimony was provided.
The House Committee adopted an amendment to
remove provisions related to pretrial hearings in criminal
prosecutions for murder or rape in which the prosecutor
intended to introduce the testimony of a jailhouse witness and
jury instructions involving the use of such testimony.
Senate Committee on Judiciary
In the Senate Committee hearing on March 14, 2023,
proponent testimony was provided by representatives of
BIDS and the Midwest Innocence Project who generally
stated the bill would provide transparency and enhance
reliability regarding testimony of jailhouse witnesses. Written-
only proponent testimony was provided by a representative of
Americans for Prosperity.
Opponent testimony was provided by a representative
of the KCDAA, who provided substantially similar testimony
as in the House Committee hearing. Written-only opponent
testimony was provided by the Sedgwick County District
Attorney.
The Senate Committee amended the bill to remove
legislative review of the confidentiality provision under KORA
with respect to records held by the database that would be
created by the bill.
4- 2293 Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the KBI estimates
enactment of the bill would result in additional expenditures of
$182,180 from the State General Fund in FY 2024, incidental
costs for security requirements of the system, and negligible
costs for prosecuting attorneys who wish to access the
system who are not already active users of the Kansas
Criminal Justice Information System (KCJIS). The KBI
estimates the initial cost for the database would be $165,000
for licensing with an additional cost of $12,410 for training
and installation, and $4,770 for maintenance, for a total of
$182,180 that is scalable according to number of concurrent
users needed for the database.
The Office of Judicial Administration states the bill’s
enactment could have a fiscal effect on Judicial Branch
operations because the bill’s provisions could extend the
length of certain cases, and the fiscal effect cannot be
estimated until there has been an opportunity for the Judicial
Branch to operate under the bill’s provisions. Any fiscal effect
associated with the bill is not reflected in The FY 2024
Governor’s Budget Report.
Criminal prosecutions; jailhouse witness testimony; disclosures; database; Pete
Coones Memorial Act; Kansas Open Records Act
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