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| Kansas Senate Backs Treatment Plan to Ease Pressure On Prisons |
| By Kansas City Star |
| Published: 03/17/2003 |
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With votes to spare, the Kansas Senate approved legislation Thursday to send low-level drug offenders to treatment programs rather than sentence them to prison. With 21 votes required for passage, the measure passed 26-14 and was sent to the House for further consideration. Sen. Pete Brungardt, a Salina Republican, said he voted for the bill to reduce crime in Kansas by breaking the drug addiction cycle. 'It is a vote to avoid a tax increase for new prison construction and operation,' he said. 'The present system doesn't work. We must change our methods of dealing with the disease of drug addiction.' Senators debated the legislation for almost two hours Wednesday before advancing it to Thursday's final Senate action. Besides the problem of repeat drug offenders, the state faces a prison system that is on the brink of overflowing. Lawmakers have been warned that it may be necessary to build a prison if something isn't done to stem the tide of new admissions. Among those opposing the legislation was Sen. Derek Schmidt, an Independence Republican. 'To the extent this bill makes available real and effective treatment options for substance abusers, it is good medicine for Kansas,' Schmidt said. 'But to the extent this bill strips judges and prosecutors of a tool to incarcerate offenders whose continued presence in the communities puts persons or property at risk, it contains a poison pill Kansas need not swallow.' Initially, the bill would have granted early release to prisoners serving time for low-level drug offenses and enrolled them in outside treatment programs. However, the retroactive provision was removed during debate. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has endorsed the legislation as long as it doesn't allow the early release of prisoners. |
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