Kansas committee hears proposals to speed removal of unauthorized occupants from dwellings

TOPEKA — The Committee on Judiciary held an informational hearing on state laws governing unauthorized occupancy of property — commonly called squatting — and reviewed a House proposal that would allow law enforcement to remove an unauthorized occupant after an owner files an affidavit, presenters and legislators said.

Kansas Legislative Research Department analyst Natalie Nelson reviewed the current legal framework, telling the committee that the state's adverse-possession statute allows a person who has had open, exclusive and continuous possession of property for 15 years to seek title. Nelson also summarized landlord-tenant law and the eviction process, noting differences when a person occupies property without a rental agreement.

The distinction matters for enforcement: where a valid landlord-tenant relationship exists, the Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act prescribes notice periods and civil procedures for eviction. Nelson said the statute that excludes unauthorized occupants from those tenant protections also authorizes criminal trespass prosecution when a person "enters or remains in defiance of an order to leave by the property owner or other authorized person, or the property is locked, fenced, or otherwise secured." She told the committee criminal trespass in Kansas is punishable by up to six months in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both.

The committee also reviewed House Bill 2378, a measure the House Federal and State Affairs Committee amended and passed out earlier the same day. Natalie Scott of the Revisor of Statutes summarized the bill's provisions: an owner could submit a verified affidavit to the county sheriff or other law enforcement agency asserting ownership, that the person is not a tenant and has been asked to vacate, and that the person is not an immediate family member. After verification, the bill would require law enforcement to serve notice and could authorize prompt removal. Scott said the bill as amended expands the definition of "dwelling" to include commercial property and mobile homes, requires the affidavit to be notarized, substitutes "law enforcement agency" for "sheriff," and includes statutory liability protection for the agency. The bill also creates a civil cause of action for wrongful removal and defines "squatter."

Law-enforcement witnesses told the committee the proposal would fill a gap but urged caution. Ed Klump, testifying for the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police and the Kansas Sheriffs Association, said many trespass arrests statewide reflect short-term incidents, not residential squatting, and that factual disputes about ownership and permission often cannot be resolved at the scene. "I like to think of this bill as kind of a criminal trespass bill on steroids," Klump said, arguing the measure could give officers a tool to resolve ambiguous occupancy claims more quickly while preserving judicial review for contested cases. He added, "we do need kind of a streamlined process" to address vacant or occupied structures that create safety risks, such as fires.

Committee members raised operational questions and civil-rights concerns. Representatives asked whether tents or camping on private land would fall under the bill (witnesses said the bill focuses on dwellings and that criminal trespass statutes would apply to other kinds of unauthorized occupancy), how notice requirements would operate in practice, and whether the bill in its current form actually criminalizes squatting (members noted the amended bill makes filing a false affidavit an offense but does not create a separate criminal penalty for squatting itself).

Presenters pointed to existing statutes governing related matters, including statutes on eviction procedure and on disposition of property left by an evicted occupant; Natalie Scott noted that under KSA 58-25-65 a landlord who takes possession may, after certain notice steps and a 30-day period, sell or store abandoned tenant property and that the statute specifies how sale proceeds are handled.

No formal action was taken by the Committee on Judiciary at the hearing. Chair remarks indicated the committee would consider other business the next day, and the chair said staff planned to work another unrelated House bill at the next meeting.

For readers: the primary legal texts referenced at the hearing included KSA provisions on adverse possession, eviction (KSA 61-38-01 et seq.), the Kansas Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, and the criminal trespass statute cited in testimony.