Sentencing Commission presses for SB 123 funding after LBC trims reappropriation and deletes enhancements

Nicole Rencher, fiscal analyst with the Kansas Legislative Research Department, told the subcommittee the Sentencing Commission requested $14,900,000 for fiscal year 2025 and carried over $3,700,000 in unspent State General Fund (SGF) reappropriation from FY24. Rencher reported a Legislative Budget Committee (LBC) motion to delete $2,500,000 of that reappropriation.

Rencher said the LBC "only approved the 1.21,300,000 re appropriation," and that the committee had a global motion to delete enhancement requests for FY26. She also summarized a $39,000 federal grant the agency later received to support a felony data enhancement in the Kansas Sentencing Application.

Scott Schultz, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, told the committee the agency administers the SB 123 program, which pays for court-ordered substance-abuse treatment for certain felony offenders, and that the program has expanded multiple times in recent years. "When you successfully complete the SB 123 program, it is reduced by 75%," Schultz said, referring to the percent reduction in the relative odds of a new conviction reported in external research. He also cited a cost study: "For every dollar that was spent on the [SB 123] $4 was saved," summarizing the University of Cincinnati analysis presented to the commission.

Schultz described program growth and implementation lags: some statutory expansions produced few cases the first year and larger caseloads in subsequent years (he gave examples: 4 cases in the first year of a RAFT diversion expansion, followed by 40 the next year). He argued that increasing the commission's provider cost caps would keep treatment beds available for SB 123 clients. "If we have a day or 2 for that individual to get into treatment, the time to treatment becomes a barrier for them," he said, explaining that delays in placement can lead to failures and revocations.

Schultz warned of capacity pressure in the state corrections system: using the commission's projections, he said the Department of Corrections will reach physical capacity in 2 to 3 years and that the state will need roughly 1,000 additional beds in the next 10 years beyond a proposed Hutchinson facility renovation. He contrasted costs: "instead of paying $40,000 for your offender in prison for a year, you can actually spend $4,000 per offender for substance abuse treatment."

The Sentencing Commission asked the subcommittee to restore reappropriated funds and to approve a $2,400,000 enhancement for FY26 to raise provider cost caps and slow bed losses. Rencher said the LBC had a global motion to delete enhancement requests; the transcript records the LBC's deletions but does not show roll-call votes in the subcommittee hearing.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about FTE counts, SGF lapses and Medicaid coverage for inmates. Schultz noted the commission has 15 staff FTEs and a 17-member commission of appointed officials; Rencher and staff explained the agency had an SGF lapse and that reappropriation had been reduced. Kyle Anderson (KLRD) answered a separate question about Medicaid coverage: he said Medicaid covers inmates only in limited circumstances (under-18, over-65, pregnant or disabled), and that other inmate medical costs are handled through third-party medical contracts.

Schultz closed by asking lawmakers to consider the program's evidence of reduced reconviction and the projected fiscal tradeoffs between incarceration and community treatment. The subcommittee then closed the Sentencing Commission budget hearing.