Media Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 8, 2006
Contact: Rep. Lance Kinzer (913) 782-5885
Rep. Kinzer Carries Jessica's Law Conference Committee Report on House Floor
The Kansas House tonight passed the Conference Committee Report for HB 2576, Jessica's Law. This vote sends the bill to the Governor to be signed into law. Representative Lance Kinzer (R - Olathe) carried this conference committee report on the House Floor. Following the vote Rep. Kinzer stated, "I am extremely honored to have been asked to carry this important legislation. Government has no higher purpose than protecting our children from predators.” During the legislative session Rep. Kinzer has fought for the toughest possible Jessica’s law language. As passed HB 2576 requires that predators who commit sexually based crimes against children be sentenced to no less than 25 years for a first offense. The bill would also strengthen current offender registration requirements and provide for lifetime GPS monitoring of child sex offenders. As a member of the HB 2576 Conference Committee Rep. Kinzer successfully advocated for provisions that would allow for tough mandatory minimum sentences using existing sentencing procedures. Rep. Kinzer helped remove provisions that would have provided convicted child sex predators with a special sentencing procedure allowing a single juror to prevent the mandatory 25 year sentence from being imposed. Commenting on this provision Rep. Kinzer stated, “There was simply no good reason for us to provide more lenient sentencing procedures for child sex predators than we do for other convicted felons. Removing those provisions in the conference committee was crucial to having meaningful Jessica’s Law legislation.”
Passage of HB 2576 was one of Rep. Kinzer’s top legislative priorities for the 2006 session. As Vice-Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Kinzer will continue to play an active roll in reforming our criminal justice system. In particular he noted, “While tougher penalties and enforcement are crucial, they are not enough to provide our citizens with the level of safety they deserve. We must also be diligent in making sure our entire criminal justice system is designed to both punish criminals and to reduce recidivism. As a commissioner on the Kansas Criminal Justice Recodification, Rehabilitation, and Restoration Project I have had an opportunity to work with judges, prosecutors, corrections officials, religious leaders and many others to recommend comprehensive reforms that will make Kansas a safer place to live and raise a family.”
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