Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Committee hears bill to require prosecutors to disclose and track jailhouse‑witness benefits
Summary
Senate Bill 116 would require prosecuting attorneys to disclose when they plan to use a jailhouse witness, provide the witness’s criminal history and any cooperation agreements, and forward the information to a confidential KBI registry.
Senate Bill 116 would require a prosecuting attorney to disclose to defense counsel when the prosecutor intends to introduce testimony from a jailhouse witness and to supply related materials, including the witness’s criminal history, any cooperation agreement or requested benefit, the contents of statements the witness attributes to the defendant, and any recantations. The bill also directs prosecuting attorneys to maintain a central file on such witnesses and to forward the information to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI), which would maintain a statewide database accessible to prosecutors and otherwise confidential.
Supporters described the bill as a narrowly tailored, constitutionally informed reform to reduce wrongful convictions based on jailhouse informants. Tricia Rojo Bushnell of the Midwest Innocence Project and Mark Zimmerman of Miracle of…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
