Bill
HB 2164
Makes it a crime for certain adult sex offenders with minor victims to enter school property or attend school activities, with escalating felonies for repeat violations.
Status
- Conference Committee Report adopted (Yea: 36, Nay: 4). Introduced January 28, 2025. Substitute recommended by the Senate Committee on Judiciary; substitute replaced the House original provisions.
Purpose and intent
- To amend the Kansas Offender Registration Act by making it a crime for certain registered sex offenders to enter onto school property or attend school activities, with escalating felony penalties for repeat violations. The provision targets adult registrants whose underlying registry offense involved a victim under 18.
Key provisions
- Prohibition (new section)
- Makes it unlawful for any registered sex offender who:
- Is at least 18 years old; and
- Was convicted of an offense requiring registration that involved a victim under 18;
- To enter onto school property or attend a school activity (definitions below).
- Penalties for violation
- 1st conviction: severity level 6 person felony.
- 2nd conviction: severity level 5 person felony.
- 3rd or subsequent conviction: severity level 3 person felony.
- Definitions
- "School activity": activity sponsored by a unified school district or a covered nonpublic school where K–12 students or preschool children (under kindergarten eligibility) are the primary participants/audience. Examples listed: instructional time, after‑school care/tutoring, athletic events, dances/socials, field trips, plays/assemblies.
- "School property": property containing structures used by a unified school district or a covered nonpublic school for instruction, attendance, or extracurricular activities for K–12 students or eligible preschoolers.
- "Nonpublic school": private, nonprofit, or parochial school offering regular instruction at least four days per week during a school term. Explicitly excludes homeschools, microschools, homeschool cooperative associations, and nonaccredited private schools with total enrollment of nine students or fewer.
- Statutory placement
- The new section is made part of and supplemental to the Kansas Offender Registration Act (K.S.A. ch. 22, art. 49).
Who is affected
- Directly: registered sex offenders in Kansas meeting the age/conviction criteria.
- Indirectly: public schools, covered nonpublic schools, law enforcement, county and district attorneys (prosecution responsibility), school administrators, and potentially families and community organizations that host or coordinate school activities.
Procedural/background notes
- Substitute was drafted from provisions related to SB 288; the House original HB 2164 concerned a different subject (law enforcement training age) and was removed by the substitute.
- Committee testimony: proponents (DAs, law enforcement associations, child advocacy centers) cited safety gaps; neutral testimony (school boards) raised compliance concerns with other state/federal obligations; opponents (public defenders, advocates) warned about isolation, recidivism risk, and potential constitutional challenges.
- No fiscal note for the substitute was available at the time the Senate Committee acted.
Potential impacts and considerations
- Creates clear criminal enforcement authority to bar specified registrants from K–12 campuses and activities and provides escalating felony penalties for violations.
- May require schools and law enforcement to develop procedures for identifying and preventing prohibited entrants while balancing legal, privacy, and civil‑rights considerations.
- Could prompt legal challenges on due process, public‑access, or other constitutional grounds; opponents warned of possible effects on reintegration/recidivism.
- Implementation details (notice, monitoring, exceptions, enforcement mechanics) are not specified in the substitute and may be addressed administratively or via future legislation.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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