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 21, 2024
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Senate Committee on Judiciary
300 SW 10th Avenue, Room 346-S
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Dear Senator Warren:
SUBJECT: Fiscal Note for SB 503 by Senate Committee on Federal and State Affairs
In accordance with KSA 75-3715a, the following fiscal note concerning SB 503 is
respectfully submitted to your committee.
SB 503 would expand the definition of cruelty to animals to include the intentional and
malicious abandonment of an animal without making provisions for the proper care of the animal.
The penalty for this offense would be a non-grid, nonperson felony. Upon conviction of this
offense, the offender would be subject to at least 30 days of imprisonment, a fine of $500 to $5,000,
and a mandatory psychological evaluation. This expanded definition of cruelty to animals would
be known as Bowie’s Law.
The Board of Indigents Defense Services indicates that the bill would increase agency
expenditures on legal counsel and support staff by unknown amounts. The Board estimates that
on average, a non-grid, nonperson felony case requires 35 hours of direct work by an attorney to
provide constitutionally adequate representation. Based on the rates of $83.36 per hour for public
defenders and $120 per hour for assigned counsel, each new non-grid, nonperson felony case
brought to the agency would result in State General Fund expenditures of $2,918 to $4,200.
The Judiciary indicates that the bill has the potential to increase the number of cases filed
in district courts. This may increase agency operating expenditures due to the additional time spent
by district court judicial and nonjudicial personnel in processing, researching, and hearing cases.
However, the Judiciary is unable to calculate an exact estimate of this effect. The bill has the
potential to increase the collection of docket fees, fines, and supervision fees, which are deposited
in the State General Fund; however, the amount of additional collections is unknown.
The Honorable Kellie Warren, Chairperson
Page 2—SB 503
The Sentencing Commission indicates that the bill has the potential to increase agency
workload; however, incarceration for non-grid felony offenses occurs in county jails. Therefore,
the bill would not increase prison admissions, or the number of beds needed at state correctional
facilities. The Department of Corrections indicates that the bill would have no fiscal effect on its
operations. Any fiscal effect associated with SB 503 is not reflected in The FY 2025 Governor’s
Budget Report.
The Kansas Association of Counties indicates that the bill has the potential to increase the
number of people held in county jails, which would increase county government expenditures on
incarceration. However, an exact estimate of this effect cannot be provided.
Sincerely,
Adam C. Proffitt
Director of the Budget
cc: Trisha Morrow, Judiciary
Jennifer King, Department of Corrections
Heather Cessna, Board of Indigents Defense Services
Scott Schultz, Kansas Sentencing Commission
Jay Hall, Kansas Association of Counties