Committee hears bill to restrict work release, probation for repeat domestic battery convictions

The Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee opened a hearing on House Bill 2192, which would change penalties under KSA 21-54-14 (domestic battery) by restricting eligibility for work release, probation and certain sentence reductions for people convicted of multiple domestic battery offenses within a five-year period.

The bill, as explained by the reviser, preserves the statutory fine range and the 90-day-to-one-year sentence tied to second and subsequent convictions but raises the minimum time an offender must serve before eligibility for probation or work release. For second convictions within five years, HB 2192 would require at least 20 days of imprisonment before probation or work release eligibility (the House committee had originally proposed 45 days and later amended it to 20 and removed a consecutive-days requirement). For third or subsequent convictions within five years, the bill would require at least 90 days served before probation and would remove the option to serve those 90 mandatory days via work release; the bill retains the stated fine ranges ($500–$1,000 for certain second-offense penalties and $1,000–$7,500 for third/subsequent penalties).

Representative Mike Thompson, state representative, said the bill "limits or prohibits work release, probation, suspension, reduction of sentence, or…