Kansas 2025-2026 Regular Session

Kansas Senate Bill SB127 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	Session of 2025
2	2	SENATE BILL No. 127
3	3	By Committee on Judiciary
4	4	1-30
5	5	AN ACT concerning the rules of evidence; relating to hearsay; expanding
6	6	the exception to the hearsay rule for statements made to a physician to
7	7	other healthcare providers; amending K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 60-460 and
8	8	repealing the existing section.
9	9	Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
10	10	Section 1. K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 60-460 is hereby amended to read as
11	11	follows: 60-460. Evidence of a statement which is made other than by a
12	12	witness while testifying at the hearing, offered to prove the truth of the
13	13	matter stated, is hearsay evidence and inadmissible except:
14	14	(a) Previous statements of persons present. A statement previously
15	15	made by a person who is present at the hearing and available for cross-
16	16	examination with respect to the statement and its subject matter, provided
17	17	the statement would be admissible if made by the declarant while
18	18	testifying as a witness.
19	19	(b) Affidavits. Affidavits, to the extent admissible by the statutes of
20	20	this state.
21	21	(c) Depositions and prior testimony. Subject to the same limitations
22	22	and objections as though the declarant were testifying in person: (1)
23	23	Testimony in the form of a deposition taken in compliance with the law of
24	24	this state for use as testimony in the trial of the action in which offered; or
25	25	(2) if the judge finds that the declarant is unavailable as a witness at the
26	26	hearing, testimony given as a witness in another action or in a preliminary
27	27	hearing or former trial in the same action, or in a deposition taken in
28	28	compliance with law for use as testimony in the trial of another action,
29	29	when: (A) The testimony is offered against a party who offered it in the
30	30	party's own behalf on the former occasion or against the successor in
31	31	interest of such party; or (B) the issue is such that the adverse party on the
32	32	former occasion had the right and opportunity for cross-examination with
33	33	an interest and motive similar to that which the adverse party has in the
34	34	action in which the testimony is offered, but the provisions of this
35	35	subsection shall not apply in criminal actions if it denies to the accused the
36	36	right to meet the witness face to face.
37	37	(d) Contemporaneous statements and statements admissible on
38	38	ground of necessity generally. A statement which the judge finds was
39	39	made: (1) While the declarant was perceiving the event or condition which
40	40	1
41	41	2
42	42	3
43	43	4
44	44	5
45	45	6
46	46	7
47	47	8
48	48	9
49	49	10
50	50	11
51	51	12
52	52	13
53	53	14
54	54	15
55	55	16
56	56	17
57	57	18
58	58	19
59	59	20
60	60	21
61	61	22
62	62	23
63	63	24
64	64	25
65	65	26
66	66	27
67	67	28
68	68	29
69	69	30
70	70	31
71	71	32
72	72	33
73	73	34
74	74	35
75	75	36 SB 127 2
76	76	the statement narrates, describes or explains; (2) while the declarant was
77	77	under the stress of a nervous excitement caused by such perception; or (3)
78	78	if the declarant is unavailable as a witness, by the declarant at a time when
79	79	the matter had been recently perceived by the declarant and while the
80	80	declarant's recollection was clear and was made in good faith prior to the
81	81	commencement of the action and with no incentive to falsify or to distort.
82	82	(e) Dying declarations. A statement by a person unavailable as a
83	83	witness because of the person's death if the judge finds that it was made:
84	84	(1) Voluntarily and in good faith; and (2) while the declarant was
85	85	conscious of the declarant's impending death and believed that there was
86	86	no hope of recovery.
87	87	(f) Confessions. In a criminal proceeding as against the accused, a
88	88	previous statement by the accused relative to the offense charged, but only
89	89	if the judge finds that the accused: (1) When making the statement was
90	90	conscious and was capable of understanding what the accused said and
91	91	did; and (2) was not induced to make the statement: (A) Under compulsion
92	92	or by infliction or threats of infliction of suffering upon the accused or
93	93	another, or by prolonged interrogation under such circumstances as to
94	94	render the statement involuntary; or (B) by threats or promises concerning
95	95	action to be taken by a public official with reference to the crime, likely to
96	96	cause the accused to make such a statement falsely, and made by a person
97	97	whom the accused reasonably believed to have the power or authority to
98	98	execute the same.
99	99	(g) Admissions by parties. As against a party, a statement by the
100	100	person who is the party to the action in the person's individual or a
101	101	representative capacity and, if the latter, who was acting in such
102	102	representative capacity in making the statement.
103	103	(h) Authorized and adoptive admissions. As against a party, a
104	104	statement: (1) By a person authorized by the party to make a statement or
105	105	statements for the party concerning the subject of the statement; or (2) of
106	106	which the party with knowledge of the content thereof has, by words or
107	107	other conduct, manifested the party's adoption or belief in its truth.
108	108	(i) Vicarious admissions. As against a party, a statement which would
109	109	be admissible if made by the declarant at the hearing if: (1) The statement
110	110	concerned a matter within the scope of an agency or employment of the
111	111	declarant for the party and was made before the termination of such
112	112	relationship; (2) the party and the declarant were participating in a plan to
113	113	commit a crime or a civil wrong and the statement was relevant to the plan
114	114	or its subject matter and was made while the plan was in existence and
115	115	before its complete execution or other termination; or (3) one of the issues
116	116	between the party and the proponent of the evidence of the statement is a
117	117	legal liability of the declarant, and the statement tends to establish that
118	118	liability.
119	119	1
120	120	2
121	121	3
122	122	4
123	123	5
124	124	6
125	125	7
126	126	8
127	127	9
128	128	10
129	129	11
130	130	12
131	131	13
132	132	14
133	133	15
134	134	16
135	135	17
136	136	18
137	137	19
138	138	20
139	139	21
140	140	22
141	141	23
142	142	24
143	143	25
144	144	26
145	145	27
146	146	28
147	147	29
148	148	30
149	149	31
150	150	32
151	151	33
152	152	34
153	153	35
154	154	36
155	155	37
156	156	38
157	157	39
158	158	40
159	159	41
160	160	42
161	161	43 SB 127 3
162	162	(j) Declarations against interest. Subject to the limitations of the
163	163	exception in subsection (f), a statement which the judge finds was at the
164	164	time of the assertion so far contrary to the declarant's pecuniary or
165	165	proprietary interest or so far subjected the declarant to civil or criminal
166	166	liability or so far rendered invalid a claim by the declarant against another
167	167	or created such risk of making the declarant an object of hatred, ridicule or
168	168	social disapproval in the community that a reasonable person in the
169	169	declarant's position would not have made the statement unless the person
170	170	believed it to be true.
171	171	(k) Voter's statements. A statement by a voter concerning the voter's
172	172	qualifications to vote or the fact or content of the voter's vote.
173	173	(l) Statements of physical or mental condition of declarant. Unless
174	174	the judge finds it was made in bad faith, a statement of the declarant's: (1)
175	175	Then existing state of mind, emotion or physical sensation, including
176	176	statements of intent, plan, motive, design, mental feeling, pain and bodily
177	177	health, but not including memory or belief to prove the fact remembered or
178	178	believed, when such a mental or physical condition is in issue or is
179	179	relevant to prove or explain acts or conduct of the declarant; or (2)
180	180	previous symptoms, pain or physical sensation, made to a physician
181	181	healthcare provider as defined in K.S.A. 65-4915, and amendments
182	182	thereto, consulted for treatment or for diagnosis with a view to treatment,
183	183	and relevant to an issue of declarant's bodily condition.
184	184	(m) Business entries and the like. Writings offered as memoranda or
185	185	records of acts, conditions or events to prove the facts stated therein, if the
186	186	following conditions are shown by the testimony of the custodian or other
187	187	qualified witness, or by a certification that complies with K.S.A. 60-465(b)
188	188	(7) or (8), and amendments thereto: (1) They were made in the regular
189	189	course of a business at or about the time of the act, condition or event
190	190	recorded; and (2) the sources of information from which made and the
191	191	method and circumstances of their preparation were such as to indicate
192	192	their trustworthiness.
193	193	If the procedure specified by K.S.A. 60-245a(b), and amendments
194	194	thereto, for providing business records has been complied with and no
195	195	party has required the personal attendance of a custodian of the records or
196	196	the production of the original records, the affidavit or declaration of the
197	197	custodian shall be prima facie evidence that the records satisfy the
198	198	requirements of this subsection.
199	199	(n) Absence of entry in business records. Evidence of the absence of a
200	200	memorandum or record from the memoranda or records of a business of an
201	201	asserted act, event or condition, to prove the nonoccurrence of the act or
202	202	event, or the nonexistence of the condition, if the judge finds that it was
203	203	the regular course of that business to make such memoranda of all such
204	204	acts, events or conditions at the time thereof or within a reasonable time
205	205	1
206	206	2
207	207	3
208	208	4
209	209	5
210	210	6
211	211	7
212	212	8
213	213	9
214	214	10
215	215	11
216	216	12
217	217	13
218	218	14
219	219	15
220	220	16
221	221	17
222	222	18
223	223	19
224	224	20
225	225	21
226	226	22
227	227	23
228	228	24
229	229	25
230	230	26
231	231	27
232	232	28
233	233	29
234	234	30
235	235	31
236	236	32
237	237	33
238	238	34
239	239	35
240	240	36
241	241	37
242	242	38
243	243	39
244	244	40
245	245	41
246	246	42
247	247	43 SB 127 4
248	248	thereafter and to preserve them.
249	249	(o) Content of official record. Subject to K.S.A. 60-461, and
250	250	amendments thereto: (1) If meeting the requirements of authentication
251	251	under K.S.A. 60-465, and amendments thereto, to prove the content of the
252	252	record, a writing purporting to be a copy of an official record or of an entry
253	253	therein; (2) to prove the absence of a record in a specified office, a writing
254	254	made by the official custodian of the official records of the office, reciting
255	255	diligent search and failure to find such record; or (3) to prove the absence
256	256	of a record in the criminal justice information system central repository
257	257	maintained by the Kansas bureau of investigation pursuant to K.S.A. 22-
258	258	4705, and amendments thereto, a writing made by a person purporting to
259	259	be an official custodian of the records of the Kansas bureau of
260	260	investigation, reciting diligent search of criminal history record
261	261	information and electronically stored information, as defined in K.S.A. 22-
262	262	4701, and amendments thereto, and failure to find such record.
263	263	(p) Certificate of marriage. Subject to K.S.A. 60-461, and
264	264	amendments thereto, certificates that the maker thereof performed
265	265	marriage ceremonies, to prove the truth of the recitals thereof, if the judge
266	266	finds that: (1) The maker of the certificates, at the time and place certified
267	267	as the times and places of the marriages, was authorized by law to perform
268	268	marriage ceremonies; and (2) the certificate was issued at that time or
269	269	within a reasonable time thereafter.
270	270	(q) Records of documents affecting an interest in property. Subject to
271	271	K.S.A. 60-461, and amendments thereto, the official record of a document
272	272	purporting to establish or affect an interest in property, to prove the content
273	273	of the original recorded document and its execution and delivery by each
274	274	person by whom it purports to have been executed, if the judge finds that:
275	275	(1) The record is in fact a record of an office of a state or nation or of any
276	276	governmental subdivision thereof; and (2) an applicable statute authorized
277	277	such a document to be recorded in that office.
278	278	(r) Judgment of previous conviction. Evidence of a final judgment
279	279	adjudging a person guilty of a felony, to prove any fact essential to sustain
280	280	the judgment.
281	281	(s) Judgment against persons entitled to indemnity. To prove the
282	282	wrong of the adverse party and the amount of damages sustained by the
283	283	judgment creditor, evidence of a final judgment if offered by a judgment
284	284	debtor in an action in which the debtor seeks to recover partial or total
285	285	indemnity or exoneration for money paid or liability incurred by the debtor
286	286	because of the judgment, provided the judge finds that the judgment was
287	287	rendered for damages sustained by the judgment creditor as a result of the
288	288	wrong of the adverse party to the present action.
289	289	(t) Judgment determining public interest in land. To prove any fact
290	290	which was essential to the judgment, evidence of a final judgment
291	291	1
292	292	2
293	293	3
294	294	4
295	295	5
296	296	6
297	297	7
298	298	8
299	299	9
300	300	10
301	301	11
302	302	12
303	303	13
304	304	14
305	305	15
306	306	16
307	307	17
308	308	18
309	309	19
310	310	20
311	311	21
312	312	22
313	313	23
314	314	24
315	315	25
316	316	26
317	317	27
318	318	28
319	319	29
320	320	30
321	321	31
322	322	32
323	323	33
324	324	34
325	325	35
326	326	36
327	327	37
328	328	38
329	329	39
330	330	40
331	331	41
332	332	42
333	333	43 SB 127 5
334	334	determining the interest or lack of interest of the public or of a state or
335	335	nation or governmental division thereof in land, if offered by a party in an
336	336	action in which any such fact or such interest or lack of interest is a
337	337	material matter.
338	338	(u) Statement concerning one's own family history. A statement of a
339	339	matter concerning a declarant's own birth, marriage, divorce, legitimacy,
340	340	relationship by blood or marriage, race-ancestry or other similar fact of the
341	341	declarant's family history, even though the declarant had no means of
342	342	acquiring personal knowledge of the matter declared, if the judge finds
343	343	that the declarant is unavailable.
344	344	(v) Statement concerning family history of another. A statement
345	345	concerning the birth, marriage, divorce, death, legitimacy, race-ancestry,
346	346	relationship by blood or marriage or other similar fact of the family history
347	347	of a person other than the declarant if the judge finds that the declarant: (1)
348	348	Was related to the other by blood or marriage, or was otherwise so
349	349	intimately associated with the other's family as to be likely to have
350	350	accurate information concerning the matter declared, and made the
351	351	statement as upon information received from the other or from a person
352	352	related by blood or marriage to the other or as upon repute in the other's
353	353	family; and (2) is unavailable as a witness.
354	354	(w) Statement concerning family history based on statement of
355	355	another declarant. A statement of a declarant that a statement admissible
356	356	under the exceptions in subsections (u) or (v) was made by another
357	357	declarant, offered as tending to prove the truth of the matter declared by
358	358	both declarants, if the judge finds that both declarants are unavailable as
359	359	witnesses.
360	360	(x) Reputation in family concerning family history. Evidence of
361	361	reputation among members of a family, if the reputation concerns the birth,
362	362	marriage, divorce, death, legitimacy, race-ancestry or other fact of the
363	363	family history of a member of the family by blood or marriage.
364	364	(y) Reputation—boundaries, general history, family history. Evidence
365	365	of reputation in a community as tending to prove the truth of the matter
366	366	reputed, if the reputation concerns: (1) Boundaries of or customs affecting,
367	367	land in the community and the judge finds that the reputation, if any, arose
368	368	before controversy; (2) an event of general history of the community or of
369	369	the state or nation of which the community is a part and the judge finds
370	370	that the event was of importance to the community; or (3) the birth,
371	371	marriage, divorce, death, legitimacy, relationship by blood or marriage, or
372	372	race-ancestry of a person resident in the community at the time of the
373	373	reputation, or some other similar fact of the person's family history or of
374	374	the person's personal status or condition which the judge finds likely to
375	375	have been the subject of a reliable reputation in that community.
376	376	(z) Reputation as to character. If a trait of a person's character at a
377	377	1
378	378	2
379	379	3
380	380	4
381	381	5
382	382	6
383	383	7
384	384	8
385	385	9
386	386	10
387	387	11
388	388	12
389	389	13
390	390	14
391	391	15
392	392	16
393	393	17
394	394	18
395	395	19
396	396	20
397	397	21
398	398	22
399	399	23
400	400	24
401	401	25
402	402	26
403	403	27
404	404	28
405	405	29
406	406	30
407	407	31
408	408	32
409	409	33
410	410	34
411	411	35
412	412	36
413	413	37
414	414	38
415	415	39
416	416	40
417	417	41
418	418	42
419	419	43 SB 127 6
420	420	specified time is material, evidence of the person's reputation with
421	421	reference thereto at a relevant time in the community in which the person
422	422	then resided or in a group with which the person then habitually
423	423	associated, to prove the truth of the matter reputed.
424	424	(aa) Recitals in documents affecting property. Evidence of a statement
425	425	relevant to a material matter, contained in a deed of conveyance or a will
426	426	or other document purporting to affect an interest in property, offered as
427	427	tending to prove the truth of the matter stated, if the judge finds that: (1)
428	428	The matter stated would be relevant upon an issue as to an interest in the
429	429	property; and (2) the dealings with the property since the statement was
430	430	made have not been inconsistent with the truth of the statement.
431	431	(bb) Commercial lists and the like. Evidence of statements of matters
432	432	of interest to persons engaged in an occupation contained in a list, register,
433	433	periodical or other published compilation, to prove the truth of any
434	434	relevant matter so stated, if the judge finds that the compilation is
435	435	published for use by persons engaged in that occupation and is generally
436	436	used and relied upon by them.
437	437	(cc) Learned treatises. A published treatise, periodical or pamphlet on
438	438	a subject of history, science or art, to prove the truth of a matter stated
439	439	therein, if the judge takes judicial notice, or a witness expert in the subject
440	440	testifies, that the treatise, periodical or pamphlet is a reliable authority in
441	441	the subject.
442	442	(dd) Actions involving children. In a criminal proceeding or a
443	443	proceeding pursuant to the revised Kansas juvenile justice code or in a
444	444	proceeding to determine if a child is a child in need of care under the
445	445	revised Kansas code for care of children, a statement made by a child, to
446	446	prove the crime or that a child is a juvenile offender or a child in need of
447	447	care, if:
448	448	(1) The child is alleged to be a victim of the crime or offense or a
449	449	child in need of care; and
450	450	(2) the trial judge finds, after a hearing on the matter, that the child is
451	451	disqualified or unavailable as a witness, the statement is apparently
452	452	reliable and the child was not induced to make the statement falsely by use
453	453	of threats or promises.
454	454	If a statement is admitted pursuant to this subsection in a trial to a jury,
455	455	the trial judge shall instruct the jury that it is for the jury to determine the
456	456	weight and credit to be given the statement and that, in making the
457	457	determination, it shall consider the age and maturity of the child, the
458	458	nature of the statement, the circumstances under which the statement was
459	459	made, any possible threats or promises that might have been made to the
460	460	child to obtain the statement and any other relevant factor.
461	461	(ee) Certified motor vehicle certificate of title history. Subject to
462	462	K.S.A. 60-461, and amendments thereto, a certified motor vehicle
463	463	1
464	464	2
465	465	3
466	466	4
467	467	5
468	468	6
469	469	7
470	470	8
471	471	9
472	472	10
473	473	11
474	474	12
475	475	13
476	476	14
477	477	15
478	478	16
479	479	17
480	480	18
481	481	19
482	482	20
483	483	21
484	484	22
485	485	23
486	486	24
487	487	25
488	488	26
489	489	27
490	490	28
491	491	29
492	492	30
493	493	31
494	494	32
495	495	33
496	496	34
497	497	35
498	498	36
499	499	37
500	500	38
501	501	39
502	502	40
503	503	41
504	504	42
505	505	43 SB 127 7
506	506	certificate of title history prepared by the division of vehicles of the
507	507	Kansas department of revenue.
508	508	Sec. 2. K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 60-460 is hereby repealed.
509	509	Sec. 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
510	510	publication in the statute book.
511	511	1
512	512	2
513	513	3
514	514	4
515	515	5