The respondents were being held in the juvenile detention facility in Sedgwick County. Some of the respondents had been adjudicated as juvenile offenders and some were being held pending juvenile adjudication hearings. The juvenile proceedings arose out of acts committed by the respondents which would have constituted felonies had the respondents been adults. Instead, they were being held upon a juvenile charge or adjudication at the time of their escape. The State takes issue with the trial court's ruling.
Statutory interpretation is a question of law.
This court's review of a question of law is unlimited. When determining a question of law, this court is not bound by the decision of the district court. Memorial Hospital Ass'n, Inc. Criminal statutes are to be construed strictly against the State. This court may not give a different meaning to a word in a criminal statute than the meaning that the word usually possesses.