Kansas community corrections asks Legislature for $3 million to hire officers and expand behavioral health services

Randy Regier, director of Reno County Community Corrections and president of the Kansas Community Corrections Association, told a Kansas House committee on Oct. 27 that community corrections needs $3 million in additional state grant funding to reduce caseloads and expand behavioral health services.

"Community corrections is such a great return on your investment," Regier said during a presentation to Chairman Lewis and committee members. He asked lawmakers to approve an extra $1,500,000 to hire more officers and another $1,500,000 to expand a behavioral health grant that pays for treatment and programs for probationers.

Regier said field supervision in Kansas is provided by three distinct agencies: Court Services under the Office of Judicial Administration, county-run Community Corrections, and state parole under the Department of Corrections. He said community corrections officers are county employees whose agencies receive state general fund grant dollars administered through the Kansas Department of Corrections, and are governed locally by advisory boards and county commissions.

Regier described community corrections as focused on changing criminal thinking and behavior through assessment, individualized case plans and programs, and referrals for substance use and mental health treatment. He told the committee the statewide five-year average success rate for community corrections is 72.6 percent and that community supervision is far less expensive than incarceration: "It costs the state over a hundred dollars a day to place someone in prison, compared to only about $11.41 per day for community corrections to supervise a person," he said.

Regier gave Reno County as an example: he said the average supervision assignment there last year was about 20 months while the average underlying prison sentence for similar cases was 32 months, and that sending people directly to prison would cost the state far more. He told members that, based on recommended caseload sizes, the state needs to add 51 community corrections officers statewide and that the behavioral health grant has remained at $3 million for more than 10 years without keeping pace with need.

Committee members pressed Regier on program details and limits. Representative James asked whether people on community corrections are on probation and whether electronic monitoring is used; Regier replied the courts make sentencing decisions and that monitoring tools such as ankle bracelets are among the courts' options. Representative Martinez and others questioned caseload sizes; Regier said a typical active caseload is about 30–35 people but that recommended mixes by risk level are lower (for example, about 25 level-one clients or up to 50 level-three clients) and that many officers carry mixed-risk caseloads.

Representative Carmichael asked whether the funding Regier requested had been included in the budget the House passed the prior week; Regier said he did not believe the secretary had included the request in the enhancement package. Carmichael asked rhetorically whether the Legislature should build a new prison or expand community corrections; Regier responded that while he did not minimize the need for a new facility, community corrections offered a stronger return on investment and more intensive behavioral-change programming than incarceration.

Members also asked about treatment access and outcomes. Regier said the majority of supervised people are engaged in some form of behavioral health treatment, most commonly services at community behavioral health centers, but that wait times can be long — often a month or more for outpatient and two months or longer for inpatient care in many areas. He said many probationers lack Medicaid or other insurance and that community corrections agencies use behavioral health grant funds to remove barriers such as evaluation fees, copayments and medication costs.

On supervision of juveniles, Regier said most agencies supervise primarily adults but that larger jurisdictions often assign officers who focus on juveniles while smaller counties mix adult and juvenile caseloads. He said Reno County supervises roughly 300–325 adults and about 15 juveniles.

The presentation included an extended question-and-answer session but no formal committee action or vote on Regier's funding request during the hearing. Chairman Lewis closed the session after committee members discussed upcoming bills unrelated to this presentation.

The committee did not adopt a motion during the hearing; Regier told members his request had not been included in the House-passed budget as he understood it. Any changes to grant funding would require legislative appropriation in subsequent budget action.