SENATE  BILL  20

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee.  It would
establish a new statute providing for limitations on disclosure and use of
health information.

SENATE  BILL  21

This bill was introduced by the Special Committee on Information
Management, and assigned to the Senate Transportation and Tourism
Committee.  It relates to the records of the Division of Vehicles, and
places restrictions on the release of some information.

SENATE  BILL  87

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and assigned
back to the same Committee.  It amends the civil procedure statutes to
delete the figure of $75,000.00 as the highest amount that could be
specified in a claim for relief to be the same as is specified in the
Federal rules of civil procedure.  This would permit Kansas to remain in
conformity with the Federal rules without having to frequently amend our
statute to conform to changes in the Federal statute.  The bill passed the
Senate, and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

SENATE  BILL  88

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and referred
back to that Committee.  It amends the uniform commercial code to clarify
that the provisions of Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, secured
transactions, do not prevent the transfer of ownership of accounts or
chattel paper.  It further provides that the determination of whether a
particular transfer of accounts or chattel paper constitutes a sale or a
transfer of security interest is not governed by Article 9 of the UCC.  It
 passed the Senate, and has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.

SENATE  BILL  97

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee and referred
back to that Committee.  It amends the statute relating to small claims
procedure to provide that a corporation may be represented in court by an
officer of the corporation or by an agent designated by corporate
resolution. The Committee held a hearing on it on February 4, but thus far
has taken no action on it.  It is identical to SB 282 and HB 2360.

SENATE  BILL  118

This bill was introduced by Sen. Clark and was referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.  It would provide that notwithstanding any provisions
of law to the contrary, no person or entity could be held liable for
damages resulting from an act of God.  (What about insurance policies?)  It
was heard by a Subcommittee on February 3, but no action has been reported
on it yet.

SENATE  BILL  143

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and referred
back to that Committee.  It amends K.S.A. 60-2308 relating to exemptions
from claims of creditors, to make Roth IRAs exempt.  It has been scheduled
for hearing by a Subcommittee on Monday.  An identical bill has been
introduced in the House, HB 2342.  It passed the committee, and is on the
Senate calendar.

SENATE  BILL  148

This was introduced by and referred back to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
 It provides that district magistrate judges must have been a resident of
the county for at least 6 months prior to being elected or appointed, and
must maintain residency in the county while holding office. A hearing was
held Feb. 15.  It is identical to HB 2352 and HB 2329, which were also
heard Feb. 15.

SENATE  BILL  250

This bill was introduced by the Senate Assessment And Taxation Committee
and referred back to that Committee.  It relates to sales taxes, and
concerns taxation of contractor and subcontractor services and materials.
 As written, it does not concern our groups.  It is a bill to be watched as
it goes through the legislative process to make sure that there is no
attempt to amend the bill to make professional services subject to sales
tax.

SENATE  BILL  259

This bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on Financial Institutions
and Insurance, and referred to the Senate Public Health And Welfare
Committee.  It concerns insurance companies, and deals with the privacy of
medical records, and enacts the Health Information Privacy Act.  Our
concern in prior sessions concerning this type of legislation is that in
the interest of protecting privacy, such legislation might make it
difficult to obtain information needed for collection activities.

SENATE  BILL  264

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and referred to
that Committee.  It concerns the Consumer Protection Act, and prohibits the
assignment of support rights in consumer transactions.

SENATE  BILL  282

This bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on Elections and Local
Government, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  It is
identical to SB 97, on which there was a hearing Feb. 4, and also to HB
2360,  providing  authority for corporations to be represented in small
claims courts by an officer or by anyone designated by corporate
resolution.

SENATE  BILL  286

This bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on Federal and State
Affairs, and referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  It provides for
expedited eviction procedures.

SENATE  BILL  299

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee and referred
back to that committee.  It provides a procedure to move hearings and
trials, without changing venue,  from a courthouse that does not conform to
section 11 of the Americans with disabilities act to a courthouse that does
conform.  It has been re-referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, which
means that it is exempt from all deadlines.

SENATE  BILL  306

This is the bill introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee at our
request concerning foreign judgments.  It was referred back to that
committee.  I have prepared written  testimony in support of it for the
hearing on February 22.

SENATE  CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION  1603

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee.  It urges
Congress to pass the Freedom And Privacy Restoration Act of 1998.

SENATE  RESOLUTION  1803

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the Senate Transportation and Tourism Committee.  It would
require the Attorney General to bring suit challenging provisions of the
federal law which requires that state issued drivers' licenses and
non-driver identification cards must either contain the holder's social
security number or that the state must verify with the Social Security
Administration the social security number of each applicant for a license
or identification card.

HOUSE  BILL  2015

This was introduced by Representative O'Neal and assigned to the House
Insurance Committee.  It relates to service of process upon insurance
companies and fraternal benefit societies, to permit the service to be made
by certified mail, return receipt requested, instead of by restricted mail.
The Committee made technical amendments to the bill, and passed the bill as
amended.  It passed the House, and has been referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  BILL  2018

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management and
assigned to the House Governmental Organizations and Elections Committee.
 It would create a new statute which would prohibit any state agency from
accepting for any identification-related purpose any identification number
which another state agency already accepts for an identification-related
purpose.

HOUSE  BILL  2019

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.  It relates to criminal
statutes, amending the eavesdropping statute, repealing the present breach
of privacy statute, and combines the two into one crime known as invasion
of privacy.

HOUSE  BILL  2083

This bill was introduced by the House Judiciary Committee and referred back
to that Committee.  It amends the statute relating to collection of debts
owed to courts and restitution ordered by courts, and the authority of the
Attorney General to contract for collection services.  It provides that the
cost of collection be paid by the defendant as an additional court cost,
and that the cost of collection shall be deemed an administrative fee make
necessary by the defendant's failure to pay the court debt and restitution.
 A hearing was held February 2, but no action has been reported on it yet.

HOUSE  BILL  2184

This was introduced by the Committee on Judiciary, and referred back to the
Committee.  It amends the code of civil procedure for limited actions and
also amends forms 11, 20, 22 and 23.  One reason to keep an eye on this
bill is that it could be used as a vehicle for other amendments that we
might want to have made.  It passed the House, and has been referred to the
Senate Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  BILL  2192

This bill was introduced by the House Committee on Financial Institutions,
and referred back to that Committee.  It would provide any trustee who has
the duty or power to pay the debts of a person who has died shall give
notice to creditors, in much the same manner as notice to creditors is
required in probate proceedings.  It has passed the House, and has been
referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  BILL  2197

This bill was introduced by 22 Representatives and assigned to the House
Business, Commerce And  Labor Committee.  It amends one of the consumer
protection statutes to provide that property or services are considered to
be unsolicited unless the recipient specifically requested, in an
affirmative manner, the receipt of the property or services according to
 the terms under which they are being offered.  It goes on to provide that
property or services are not considered to have been affirmatively ordered
or requested if a person fails to respond to a negative option invitation
or announcement to purchase the property or services, and the property or
services are provided notwithstanding.  One of the 22 sponsors of the bill
is Rep. Al Lane, who chairs the committee to which it was assigned.  A
hearing was held on February 12.

HOUSE BILL 2206

This was introduced by and referred back to the House Judiciary Committee.
 It redesignates administrative judges as chief judges, to eliminate
confusion between them and administrative law judges.  It passed the House
and has been sent to the Senate.

HOUSE  BILL  2209

This is the bill which was introduced by the House Judiciary Committee at
our request, to eliminate the prohibition against wage garnishment on
assigned accounts.  It was assigned to the House Business, Commerce And
Labor Committee.  It was passed by the Committee, and initially placed on
the House consent calendar.  However, it was removed from the consent
calendar, and is now on the regular calendar for debate.

HOUSE  BILL  2221

This bill was introduced at our request by the House Judiciary Committee
and referred back to that Committee.  It amends the statute in Chapter 61
which adopts by reference specified statutes contained in Chapter 60.  It
adds to the list of the Chapter 60 statutes that apply to Chapter 61
proceedings K.S.A. 60-2610, relating to civil liability for worthless
checks, and K.S.A. 60-2611, relating to civil actions to collect on bad
checks and providing for reasonable attorney fees to be assessed as costs.
I testified in support of the bill on February 8.  Following the hearing,
the Committee recommended the bill favorably for passage and  placed it on
the consent calendar.  It passed the House and has been referred to the
Senate Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  BILL 2222

This is another bill which was introduced at our request by the House
Judiciary Committee, and assigned back to that Committee.  This is the bill
which provides that one action may be brought to evict a tenant, and a
subsequent action can be brought for the amount plaintiff claims to be due
from the defendant as rent.  This is to eliminate compliance problems with
the federal Fair Debt Collection Act.  I testified in support of the bill
at the hearing on February 8.  The Committee passed the bill, and it was on
the regular House calendar.  It passed the House, and has been referred to
the Senate Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  BILL  2323

This bill was introduced by the Committee on Governmental Organization and
Elections, and referred back to that Committee.  It provides that no state
agency may refuse payment of fees paid by personal check.  It does give a
state agency authority to impose additional fees and recover any cost
incurred by reason of payments made by personal checks with insufficient
funds.

HOUSE  BILL  2329

This was introduced by the House Judiciary Committee, and referred back to
that Committee.  It provides that a District Magistrate Judge must be a
resident of the County for which elected or appointed to serve at the time
of taking the oath of office and shall maintain residency in the County
while holding office. A hearing was held February 15.
It is identical to HB 2352 and to SB 148.

HOUSE  BILL  2332

This is a bill introduced by the House Judiciary Committee at our request,
and referred back to that Committee.  It is one of three bills containing
the changes we requested in order to have our statutes relating to
garnishment and execution meet constitutional muster.  This relates to
writs of execution, provides for service of notice, and establishes a new
form 29 to be added to the appendix of forms following K.S.A. 60-269.  The
other 2 bills are HB 2371 and HB2428,  which were heard February 15.

HOUSE  BILL  2336

This was introduced by Rep. Swenson and referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  It amends K.S.A. 20-3133 relating to clerks of the district
court to provide that the clerk or deputy may assist the public in locating
legal forms, and provides that such assistance shall not constitute the
practice of law.

HOUSE  BILL  2342

This was introduced by Rep. Lightner and 13 other Representatives relating
to making Roth IRAs exempt from claims of creditors.  It is identical to SB
143.  It will be heard Feb. 15.

HOUSE  BILL  2343

This was introduced by the House Committee on Utilities, and referred back
to that Committee.  It amends the statute concerning consumer protection
and relates to telecommunications services.  It would prohibit any
supplemental telecommunications services being added to a consumer's
account without having the express authorization of the consumer.  A
hearing was held February 19.

HOUSE  BILL  2345

This was introduced by Rep. Freeborn, by request, and assigned to the House
Judiciary Committee.  It would require employers to inform any newly hired
employee that an employer is only required to pay an employee for 90 days
of back pay, of not more than $4,000.00 for such back wages, if the
employer files for bankruptcy.  It would further provide that any person
who files bankruptcy and utilizes the exemptions pursuant to article 23 of
Chapter 60 shall be required to hire a CPA to annually audit that person's
finances for seven years following the filing of the bankruptcy.  It also
amends K.S.A. 60-2304 to reduce the value of a means of conveyance that is
exempt from $20,000.00 to $6,000.00.

HOUSE  BILL  2352

This was introduced by Rep. Schwartz and referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  It is identical to HB 2329 and to SB 148, relating to residency
requirements for district magistrate judges.  The Committee passed it, and
so did the House.  It has been sent to the Senate.

HOUSE  BILL  2359

This bill was introduced by Rep. Minor and referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  It amends the statutes concerning small claims procedure to
raise the maximum amount that can be sought in a small claims procedure
from $1,800.00 to $2,500.00;  and increases the number of small claims that
may be filed by any person in any calendar year from 10 to 20.  A hearing
was held February 15.

HOUSE  BILL  2360

This bill was introduced by Rep. Minor and referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  It is identical to SB 97, which provides that a corporation may
be represented in small claims court by an officer of the corporation or by
an agent designated by corporate resolution.

HOUSE  BILL  2364

This was introduced by Rep. Adkins and referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  It provides that neither the home telephone number nor the home
address of a candidate for election or retention as judge shall be
disclosed by any election officer.

HOUSE  BILL  2371

This is one of the 3 garnishment-related bills introduced at our request by
the House Judiciary Committee, and referred back to that committee.  It was
heard Feb. 15.

HOUSE  BILL 2372

This was introduced by and referred back to the House Judiciary Committee.
 It would raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75. It
was heard Feb. 16.

HOUSE  BILL  2428

This is one of our three garnishment-related bills introduced at our
request by the House Judiciary Committee and referred back to it.  A
hearing was held Feb. 15.

HOUSE  BILL  2448

This was introduced by and referred back to the House Judiciary Committee.
 It provides that upon the approval and filing of a supersedeas bond, any
judgment lien shall be discharged and released.

HOUSE  BILL  2450

This was introduced by and referred back to the House Judiciary Committee.
 It would eliminate the review of  the budget of the judicial branch by the
state budget director.  The chief justice would continue to submit the
judicial budget to the budget director, but the chief's request would be
sent to the legislature in the annual budget document without change by the
director.  A hearing was held  February 16.

HOUSE  BILL  2499

This bill was introduced by the House Judiciary Committee and referred back
to that committee.  It relates to the to the election of District Court
Judges and District Magistrate Judges.  It would provide that all District
Judges and District Magistrate Judges would be elected rather than
appointed, and further provides that all such judges would be elected on a
non-partisan basis.

HOUSE  CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION  5006

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.  It urges Congress to pass the
Medical Privacy Act of 1998.

HOUSE  RESOLUTION  6004

This was introduced by the Special Committee on Information Management, and
assigned to the House Federal and State Affairs Committee.  It is identical
to Senate Resolution 1803.
 

                                                Sincerely, Elwaine