Kansas bill narrows eligibility for non‑drug diversion program and lets community corrections conduct assessments

House Bill 23‑12 would amend statutes governing the certified drug abuse treatment program commonly referred to as Senate Bill 123. The bill would add exclusions for certain non‑drug felony offenders subject to special sentencing rules (including some theft, identity theft, deprivation of property and burglary sentencing scenarios) and would permit community corrections officers, as well as court services officers, to conduct criminal risk‑need assessments for diversion agreements.

Scott Schultz, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, said the measure was brought at the commission's request as a cleanup to address unintended gaps that allowed repeated use of SB123‑plus without a clear backstop. Schultz said the legislature previously created backstops on the drug‑possession side and the commission sought a similar limit on repeated non‑drug diversion eligibility. The bill also clarifies assessment authority for the RAFT (recovery‑funded treatment) diversion program so community corrections can perform the required criminal risk‑need assessments.

Schultz said the statute changes are intended to provide parity and guardrails so individuals cannot repeatedly cycle through diversion without an endpoint. The bill’s written materials included two attachments listing the special sentencing rules and frequency limits that would apply under the amended law. No neutral or opponent witnesses appeared at the committee hearing, and the commission reported the bill previously passed the Kansas House without opposition to its committee hearing in 2023.

The committee closed the hearing after the Sentencing Commission testimony; no committee final action was recorded during the session.