Opinion ID: 2632277
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Legislature's Objective

Text: Beard contends K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 21-4603d(e) carries with it the same legislative intent as the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act (KSGA), K.S.A. 21-4701 et seq., because it was created to work in conjunction with the KSGA. Some of the principles Beard asserts the legislature considered in implementing this provision include: reserving prison space for serious and violent offenders; basing the degree of the sanction on the harm inflicted; and, reserving incarceration for serious violent offenders who present a threat to public safety. The DOC asserts that K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 21-4603d(e) is the legislature's reasoned allocation of resources within the criminal justice system. The State asserts a similar basis for the statute, contending that the statute was most likely promulgated to reduce prison overcrowding. It is evident from the controlling statutes in this case that the tension between the judicial and executive branches is the direct result of the legislature's objective of reducing prison overcrowding. K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 21-4603d(a) mandates that a sentencing court consider placement of defendants into conservation camps. Qualifying defendants must be placed in a camp unless no space is available or reasons for not placing them in a camp are stated on the record. In a further attempt to ensure the objective is met, the legislature also provided the DOC with the ability to reduce overcrowding by placing qualifying inmates in DOC custody into these same camps. K.S.A. 1999 Supp. 21-4603a(e); see also K.S.A. 75-52,107 (The secretary of corrections may contract for any correctional services described in K.S.A. 75-5291 and amendments thereto from any county or group of cooperating counties which are receiving grants under this act....). The State argues the legislature's objective should have been obtained by requiring inmates who successfully complete Labette to be placed under the supervision of the Secretary of Corrections. In making this claim, the State once again focuses upon the burden and interference that placement in community corrections imposes on the courts. There is no basis for such a claim. Because the DOC funds community corrections programs, the DOC is more involved in community corrections than the courts. This is true despite the fact that those assigned to community corrections are not in DOC custody or under DOC supervision. See K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 21-4602(f).