Each week during the 2025 Kansas legislative session, we will provide Johnson County lawmakers the opportunity to share their thoughts about what is happening in the state capitol.
The views expressed in each Capitol Update are solely those of the lawmaker. The topics are of the lawmakers’ choosing and are not fact-checked.
Below is a submission from Republican Rep. John Resman, who represents Kansas House District 121, covering parts of Olathe, Gardner and De Soto.
The Post published a Capitol Update from Democratic Rep. Cindy Neighbor earlier this week. We also extended an offer to Republican Sen. Adam Thomas but did not hear back.
SB 367 introduced significant changes in the juvenile justice code. It passed in 2016 and has helped many juvenile offenders, however there was one significant negative change that resulted in the elimination of out-of-home placements and limited options for the court for specific placement.
HB 2329 aims to make changes to the juvenile justice system that is overdue. I have served on the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee for the past seven years and am currently serving as Vice-Chair. Since SB 367 passed, the committee over the years has on several occasions attempted to address some of the shortcomings of the bill.
In past hearings the committee has heard testimony from judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement, that there needed to be changes made in the way we treat a small percentage of juveniles and the need for non-foster homes that SB 367 has overlooked.
What makes this year different, we heard stories from social workers that have expressed their need for help. It’s the same message we heard in past years from judges, prosecutors, and law enforcement. One social services agency told the committee that one of their social workers was assaulted by an out-of-control juvenile and the social worker had to lock herself in an office. The juvenile then continued to cause property damage in the building. Law enforcement was summoned, removed the juvenile, processed him and returned him right back to the situation they removed him from. The cycle of arrest and then returning the juvenile offender back into the same situation is not acceptable.
During a committee hearing earlier this month we heard one social services organization in FY24 had more than 78 juveniles spend a combined 143 nights sleeping in child welfare offices, most due to placements unwilling to accept juveniles due to violent or sexualized behaviors. HB 2329 adds additional non-foster home beds that may help prevent juveniles from sleeping in offices.
HB 2329 does several things. It allows the court broader authority in sentencing including the authority to place a juvenile in a youth residential facility, increases the possible sentence if a firearm was possessed or used in the commission of an offense, allows courts to sentence a “chronic” offender to a correction facility if the risk assessment is moderate or high, and requires the Secretary of Corrections to contract for not less than 35, nor more than 45 non-foster home beds.
The bill gives judges and Department of Corrections the direction and authority needed to meet the needs of juvenile offenders the system is currently not addressing. The bill has passed the House and is awaiting a hearing in the Senate.
