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Kansas Could Cut Back On Felonies For Property Crimes

A graphic from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows the trend in property crime and larceny in Kansas. The shaded side of the graph shows rates since Kansas raised the bar for getting a theft-related felony in 2004.
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A graphic from the Pew Charitable Trusts shows the trend in property crime and larceny in Kansas. The shaded side of the graph shows rates since Kansas raised the bar for getting a theft-related felony in 2004.

Kansas could end up handing out fewer felonies — and more misdemeanors —  for certain property crimes.

That could mean sending fewer people to state prison, though some might end up in county jail instead.

Until 2016, stealing $1,000 worth of property was the threshold between misdemeanor and felony theft. Then Kansas raised the dividing line to $1,500.

A criminal justice commission looking at prison overcrowding in the state voted this week to ask the Legislature to do the same for a host of other crimes. They include criminal property damage, stealing mislaid property, counterfeiting and Medicaid fraud.

As of August, both the male and female prison populations were above capacity. The proposed changes would free up an estimated four beds a year and spare people a black mark that can make finding work difficult for the rest of their lives, says Scott Schultz, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission.

It can be harder to find employment with a felony record because many employers require disclosure of felonies.

Getting a misdemeanor instead of a felony means potential time in county jail, but not state prison. That doesn’t necessarily translate to less incarceration time. In some cases, people could spend more time behind bars in a county jail than they would have in a state prison.

The Kansas Sentencing Commission is making its case for the change based on research from the Pew Charitable Trusts.

Pew found dozens of states have made similar changes since 2001. That didn’t lead to more crime. Rather, property crime and larceny rates fell in states that changed their thresholds. It dropped slightly more in states that didn't change, but the difference was statistically insignificant.

Kansas has raised its threshold for felony theft before — in 2004 — and related crime continued to decline, Pew says.

Credit Pew Charitable Trusts

Celia Llopis-Jepsen is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. You can reach her on Twitter @Celia_LJ.

Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link back to the original post.

Copyright 2021 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3.

Celia comes to the Kansas News Service after five years at the Topeka Capital-Journal. She brings in-depth experience covering schools and education policy in Kansas as well as news at the Statehouse. In the last year she has been diving into data reporting. At the Kansas News Service she will also be producing more radio, a medium she’s been yearning to return to since graduating from Columbia University with a master’s in journalism.