Division of the Budget
Landon State Office Building Phone: (785) 296-2436
900 SW Jackson Street, Room 504 adam.c.proffitt@ks.gov
Topeka, KS 66612 http://budget.kansas.gov
Adam C. Proffitt, Director Laura Kelly, Governor
Division of the Budget
February 15, 2024
The Honorable Susan Humphries, Chairperson
House Committee on Judiciary
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 582-N
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Representative Humphries:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for HB 2692 by House Committee on Judiciary
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning HB 2692 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
HB 2692 would allow a defendant to raise a mental defect as a defense to a criminal
prosecution under the Kansas Criminal Code if specific requirements have been met. The bill
would create exceptions to this affirmative defense if the defendant’s mental defect or mental
disease was solely due to alcohol or chemical abuse, antisocial personality disorder, intellectual
disability, organic personality syndrome, or an organic disorder.
The defense would be required to file a written notice that the defendant is claiming to have
a mental defect that prevents him or her from understanding their action or an element of the crime.
The defendant would also be required to give the prosecutor notice within 30 days after entering a
not guilty plea. The court could use its discretion to allow a late notice of the defendant’s intent
to raise mental defects as a defense if good cause is shown for the late notice. A defendant who
uses a mental defect would be required to abide by all court orders requiring a mental examination.
This would include submitting to a mental health examination by the physician or licensed
psychologist chosen by the court.
According to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS),
enactment of HB 2692 would expand the definitions of conditions that can be used to justify a
criminal defense related to lacking mental capacity to stand trial. The bill would add the new
criteria of laboring under a mental disease at the time of a criminal act that made the defendant not
know the nature and quality of the act or that the act was wrong. This could increase the number
of criminal defendants using lack of mental state as a defense that would require admission to the
State Security Program at Larned State Hospital (LSH) for this evaluation. This could also increase The Honorable Susan Humphries, Chairperson
Page 2—HB 2692
the number of individuals ordered for care and treatment at a state hospital pursuant to KSA 22-
3428 rather than serving a criminal sentence at a Department of Corrections facility.
Additional defendants ordered to LSH for evaluation of their mental state at the time of the
alleged offense would use the same bed space as defendants ordered to LSH for competency
restoration and other criminal evaluation and treatment statutes. KDADS believes more
defendants would meet the new criteria for lacking culpability and would initially be committed
to treatment for an indefinite period of time in a secure hospital facility. Most would need to
remain in a secure forensic setting for a minimum of two to three years and some would remain
hospitalized forever.
There is a wait list for admission to the State Security Program at LSH. In January 2024
there were a total of 170 defendants waiting for competency treatment or evaluation. Additional
defendants that could be referred under HB 2692 would be added to the waitlist for the State
Security Program. The average wait time in January 2024 was over 440 days.
The State Security Program has one closed 30-bed unit that could be opened with adequate
staffing. If LSH used contract nursing agencies to staff the 30-bed unit to add more capacity, the
annual cost would be $3.8 million from the State General Fund (see table below). These costs are
not currently in the LSH budget and could result in an increase in hospital staff turnover.
Cost to Staff Additional State Security Program Unit
Classification Number Bi-Weekly Annual
RN (Contract) 3.00 $ 22,800 $ 592,800
LPN (Contract) 3.00 18,000 468,000
MHDDT (Contract) 17.00 74,800 1,944,800
Psychologist (Contract) 1.00 9,200 239,200
Medical Staff (Contract) 1.00 14,800 384,800
Activity Therapist 2.00 4,375 113,750
Social Worker 1.00 2,843 73,918
28.00 $146,818 $3,817,268
KDADS is currently in a lawsuit challenging the amount of time criminal defendants spend
waiting for competency evaluation or restoration. The bill would add people to the wait list by
adding defendants that could be ordered to the State Security Program. Adding more people to
the waitlist could risk the State’s defense that LSH is trying to reduce wait time through mobile
competency, community-based competency evaluation and restoration, and adding capacity
through the South-Central Regional State Hospital.
The provider impact would be connected to referrals to Community Mental Health Centers
(CMHCs) that provide services in local communities. CMHCs also could perform the criminal
competency evaluations ordered under the updated definitions under HB 2692. Services performed
by these providers are funded in the KDADS budget.
The Honorable Susan Humphries, Chairperson
Page 3—HB 2692
According to the Office of Judicial Administration, enactment of HB 2692 could extend
the time length of some trials because it expands criminal defense for a defendant. This, in turn,
would increase the time spent by district court judicial and nonjudicial personnel in processing,
researching, and hearing cases. Nevertheless, until the courts have had an opportunity to operate
under the provisions of HB 2692, an accurate estimate of the fiscal effect on expenditures by the
Judicial Branch cannot be given. The bill would not have a fiscal effect on revenues to the Judicial
Branch or State General Fund. Any fiscal effect associated with HB 2692 is not reflected in The
FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates that enactment of HB 2692 could affect
county expenditures in making the determination and providing mental health services to
individuals after the determination.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Trisha Morrow, Judiciary
Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties
Leigh Keck, Department for Aging & Disability Services