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HB 2527 Kansas House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Prohibiting certain sex offenders from entering onto school property or attending school activities, prohibiting courts from assigning a defendant to work release if the defendant is required to register as a sex offender for certain crimes and prohibiting the secretary of corrections from granting an inmate leave from confinement except for specified purposes if theinmate is required to register as a sex offender for certain crimes or is serving a sentence for certain crimes that require registration as a sex offender.

HB 2527 prohibits courts from assigning defendants to work release programs if they have any prior conviction or court finding for a crime requiring sex offender registration under Kansas law. It also bans the secretary of corrections from granting inmates with such prior convictions leave for work release or educational release programs. This law directly affects individuals with prior sex offense convictions that mandate registration under Kansas' sex offender registry system. The bill amends Kansas statutes 21-6604 and 75-5267 to enforce these restrictions.
Issues: ✗ Criminal JusticeOpposes Criminal JusticeRestricts work release/educational programs for sex offense offenders, limiting rehabilitation opportunities and reducing program access for this group.95% confidence ✗ EducationOpposes EducationBill restricts educational access by prohibiting sex offenders from attending school activities and limiting their access to educational release programs.75% confidence
Bill status failed 4 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House Passage
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Mar 2026
Governor
Introduced Jan 23, 2026 Last action Mar 26, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Amended by Senate Committee on Judiciary → As Amended by House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice · 3 edits
MINOR
The House Committee removed a new law prohibiting adult sex offenders from entering school property and attending school activities. The bill now focuses exclusively on work release and educational release programs, specifically adding new rules about who can be assigned to these programs and how defendants must repay certain costs.
Scope change
The bill's scope was significantly narrowed by removing the section that restricted sex offenders' access to schools, leaving only provisions related to correctional release programs.
ELIGIBILITY

Deleted a new section that made it a crime for adult sex offenders to enter school property or attend school activities, including exceptions for religious services.

Modified the list of conditions under which a court can assign a defendant to a work release program, removing references to the sex offender school restriction and adding the new cost repayment obligations.

REQUIREMENT

Added new requirements for defendants to repay specific costs, including expenses for fire departments responding to arson, public funds used to purchase drugs from defendants, and medical costs incurred by law enforcement.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
19
Key actions
12
Committee
7
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference Committee Report was adopted; Yea 38, Nay 2
upper
Mar 25, 2026
Upper · Passed
Conference committee report now available
upper
Mar 24, 2026
Upper · Passed
Motion to accede adopted; Sen. Kellie Warren, Sen. Kenny Titus and Sen. Ethan Corson appointed as conferees
upper
Mar 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Nonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed Rep. Bob Lewis, Rep. Bradley Barrett and Rep. Tobias Schlingensiepen
lower
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Emergency Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 38, Nay 0
upper
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
upper
Mar 19, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
upper
Mar 17, 2026
Upper · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by Senate Committee on Judiciary
upper
Feb 26, 2026
Committee
Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary
upper
Feb 25, 2026
Introduced
Received and Introduced
upper
Feb 19, 2026
Lower · Passed
Final Action - Passed as amended; Yea 109, Nay 13, Absent 3
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
lower
Feb 18, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
lower
Feb 17, 2026
Lower · Passed
Committee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Committee
Referred to House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
lower
Jan 23, 2026
Introduced
Introduced
lower
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.