Bill
HB 2179
HB 2179 would bar fines, fees, and costs in Kansas juvenile cases, discharge existing juvenile debts starting July 1, 2025 (restitution still owed), shifting some costs to counties.
Status
- Introduced: January 28, 2025 (by House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice at request of Kansas Appleseed)
- Committee action: Committee hearing February 11, 2025; committee recommended “do pass” (report filed February 14, 2025)
- Later action: Stricken from Calendar by Rule 1507 (February 20, 2025) — bill did not advance to final enactment in this form.
Purpose / intent
- To remove money-based penalties and access barriers from juvenile delinquency proceedings under the Revised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code by prohibiting the assessment, collection or pursuit of fines, fees, costs, court expenses, reimbursements or similar financial obligations against juveniles or their parents, guardians or custodians.
Key provisions (substantive changes)
- Broad prohibition (New Section 1): Courts, agencies and collection contractors could not order, assess or seek any fines, fees, costs, court expenses, reimbursements or other financial obligations against a juvenile or the juvenile’s parent, guardian or custodian in actions under the Revised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code.
- Automatic discharge of existing obligations: On and after July 1, 2025, outstanding court‑ordered fines/fees assessed in juvenile cases would be discharged and not collected — including obligations currently being collected via contracting agents. Juveniles supervised or confined solely because of unpaid juvenile-specific financial obligations would be discharged or released immediately.
- Restitution carved out: The prohibition and discharge provisions would not apply to restitution owed by a juvenile.
- Specific fee categories eliminated for juveniles (amendments to multiple statutes): the bill would bar assessing or collecting, in juvenile cases, among others:
- fingerprinting/booking fees;
- county law library fees;
- house arrest supervision costs and related electronic/remote monitoring fees;
- juvenile adjudication / offender registration fees;
- docket fees that fund prosecuting attorneys’ training/non-judicial personnel;
- forensic science, laboratory, computer or audio/video exam fees;
- DNA database fees;
- expenses/fees for appointed counsel (shifting payment responsibility to county general funds);
- docket/surcharge fees for expungement petitions and costs for appeals (transcripts/records);
- counseling, testing, mental health evaluation/treatment and post-adjudication assessment costs;
- drug and alcohol evaluation/testing fees.
- Juvenile care & custody provisions:
- Costs for care/custody (house arrest, evidence‑based programs, out-of‑home placements) would not be assessed to parents/guardians when youth are placed out of the home.
- Removed requirement that a complaint request a court order that parents pay child support upon juvenile removal from home; explicitly prohibited ordering child support when a juvenile is removed for competency evaluation and treatment.
- Sentencing and detention rules:
- Prohibited placing a juvenile in detention solely for nonpayment of fines/fees/costs/restitution.
- Prohibited assessing financial terms (fines, fees, child support, costs) as conditions for participation in community-based programs, out-of-home placements, house arrest, drug/alcohol testing, electronic monitoring or remote alcohol monitoring.
- Eliminated statutory authority to impose fines upon adjudication of a juvenile.
- Technical statutory cross‑reference updates (reintegration plans, placement rules, etc.).
Who would be affected
- Primary: juveniles involved in proceedings under the Revised Kansas Juvenile Justice Code and their parents, guardians or custodians (removes direct monetary liability and collection activity targeted at these parties).
- Secondary: counties, cities and local agencies that currently collect juvenile-related fees (e.g., sheriff’s offices, law libraries, forensic labs, court clerks, community supervision agencies) — these entities would lose certain fee revenue streams.
- Courts and counties: costs shifted in some areas (e.g., appointed counsel transcript/record costs, appointed attorney expense) to county general funds rather than to juveniles or families.
Fiscal/timing notes
- Supplemental and fiscal notes in the bill materials indicate:
- The bill as drafted contemplated discharging existing juvenile‑case fines/fees on and after July 1, 2025 (Supplemental Note).
- The Division of the Budget/fiscal note reported the Office of Judicial Administration expects a negligible operational effect on Judicial Branch expenditures but that the bill would decrease revenues to various state funds and the State General Fund; precise fiscal effect could not be estimated.
- Historic totals of juvenile fees collected statewide (FY2016–FY2024) ranged roughly from ~$341,000 to ~$932,000 per year; local collections (e.g., community supervision) were cited (~$160,000 in FY2023).
- The bill explicitly preserved restitution owed by juveniles (not discharged).
Procedural/next-step context
- Although it had a committee “do pass” recommendation, HB 2179 was stricken from the House calendar under Rule 1507 on February 20, 2025 and did not reach enactment in this form during the 2025 session. If reintroduced or refiled in future sessions, its core approach would remove most juvenile-associated fees and shift some local costs to county or state budgets depending on implementation choices.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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