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Kansas Legal Services tells Senate panel expungement clinics and driver-license work need steady funding
Summary
Kansas Legal Services asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to continue funding statewide expungement clinics and to modestly expand support for driver’s-license restoration, saying clinics rely on a $200,000 legislative appropriation and that state funding and volunteer lawyers sustain services across 105 counties.
Kansas Legal Services executive director Matthew Keenan told the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 26 that his nonprofit provides civil legal help across all 105 counties and relies on a mix of state and federal funding to offer services including expungement clinics that he said help Kansans re-enter the workforce.
Keenan said KLS receives about $2,100,000 from the state and about $3,000,000 from federal grants and highlighted a $200,000 legislative appropriation that supports expungement clinics. "We are about second chances," Keenan said, describing clinics that clear nonviolent, non‑sexual felony records and, he said, can increase clients’ annual earnings by $5,000 to $15,000.
The presentation included a short video about Aspen Place Apartments in Gardner, where Keenan said the city condemned the complex and KLS is representing dozens of displaced tenants. Keenan told the committee KLS handled approximately 1,500 cases in some counties and several hundred in others, and he said KLS turns away roughly two-thirds of otherwise-eligible people because of limited capacity.
Committee members asked how expungement-clinic eligibility is determined. Keenan said clinics have no financial eligibility limit — anyone can attend a clinic — but that many KLS civil legal programs do apply income thresholds. He emphasized procedural safeguards: judges and county attorneys must approve expungement petitions, and expungements typically are unavailable for crimes against a person or until a sentence and restitution are completed.
Keenan urged modest budget increases to support a driver’s-license restoration project that previously was funded by a congressional grant. "If we could increase that modestly, we could start doing driver's-license restorations," he said, noting Kansas has an estimated 200,000 suspended licenses and that restoration work drew hundreds of people at a Wichita clinic.
The committee did not take a vote. Members thanked KLS for the demonstration and materials and directed staff to review the provided slides and follow up on funding questions.
