Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Safety topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee clears bill clarifying sheriff liability for official acts; opponents warn it could reduce accountability in jail misconduct cases
Summary
The Senate Committee of the Whole reported House Bill 2155 favorably after debate over whether the statute should explicitly limit sheriff liability to the official acts of deputies and jailers.
House Bill 2155, a measure to clarify that sheriffs and the sureties of sheriffs are liable only for the official acts of deputies and jailers, was reported favorably by the Committee of the Whole on a voice vote.
Senator Warren, the senator from Johnson and the bill sponsor on the floor, said the legislation resolves a conflict in existing statutes and modernizes outdated gendered language. “What this bill does is it codifies and makes clear that our sheriffs are responsible only for the official acts of those in their charge,” Warren said.
During floor discussion, Senator Hoelscher (the senator from Johnson) read opposition testimony raising concerns that narrowing sheriff liability could reduce accountability in cases of deputy misconduct inside jails. Hoelscher cited two federal lawsuits, Ponce v. Sedgwick County and Martin v. Sedgwick County, as examples opponents used to illustrate potential harms.
Warren and other supporters pointed to Kansas Supreme Court decisions dating to 1933, 1956 and 1977 (Hitzman v. Kennedy; Libby v. Schmidt; Monroe v. Dar) that, the sponsor said, have long interpreted sheriff liability as applying to official acts.
The committee adopted the report and moved the bill forward by voice vote; no roll-call tally was recorded in the transcript.
