Sedgwick County to pursue four legislative priorities, including juvenile competency funding and coroner cremains statute

Sedgwick County commissioners on Jan. 22 directed staff and their lobbyists to draft a set of four legislative proposals for the abbreviated 2025 session, county staff said at a briefing.

County staff and outside counsel presented four priorities for bill drafting and asked commissioners for guidance before the lobbyists submit bill language to the Legislature’s reviser. The four priorities are: (1) amend the statute that implemented Senate Bill 228 to add juvenile detention facilities to reimbursement provisions so counties are compensated for juveniles in custody who are awaiting evaluation or competency restoration; (2) revise election statutes to reduce the number of separate local election dates (the briefing noted options include aligning local ballot measures with primary or general elections); (3) change how Sedgwick County’s share of a 1% countywide sales tax is distributed — proposing assessed value (instead of property-tax levy) as the distribution…