ACTIVE  BILLS
 

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.  The bill was re-referred to the Ways And Means
Committee, which makes it exempt from all deadlines, and then re-referred
back to the Public Health And Welfare 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 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  The
committee amended the bill, and the House passed it as amended; the Senate
concurred, and the bill was presented to the Governor on March 29.

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.   It is identical to SB 282 and HB 2360.  It was amended by the
Senate Committee to eliminate the language authorizing any agent designated
by corporate resolution and restricted the representation of the
corporation to the president or chief executive officer or the treasurer,
so long as such officer is not an attorney.  (In other works non-lawyers
can practice law in small claims court, but lawyers cannot).  The bill was
further amended by the Senate Committee of the Whole to amend K.S.A. 61-703
to make the same provisions apply to other business entities that are not
corporations.  It passed the Senate, and has been referred to the House
Judiciary Committee. The House Committee amended the bill to delete the
provision that a corporation could only appear in small claims court by its
president or treasurer and replaced it with a provision that any full-time
employee or officer could appear for the corporation.  The bill is now in
Conference Committee.

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.   An identical bill is
HB 2342.  The House Judiciary Committee passed it, and so did the House.
 It is now on its way to the Governor.

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.   It is
identical to HB 2352 and HB 2329.  It was re-referred to the Ways And Means
Committee which exempts it from all deadlines, and then referred back to
the Judiciary Committee.  HB 2352 is in Conference Committee.

SENTE  BILL  181

This bill was introduced by the Senate Judiciary Committee and referred
back to that Committee.  It relates to determination of criminal history
classification, particularly with regard to assault adjudications and
convictions. It passed the Senate, and was referred to the House Judiciary
Committee.  That Committee added a section concerning cruelty to animals.
 The bill was debated on the floor, Rep. Feuerborn added a floor amendment
bonding K.S.A. 21-3707, the criminal statute relating to giving a worthless
check, to include the giving of a worthless check for a pre-existing debt.
 The bill is now in Conference Committee.

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.  This bill is exempt from all deadlines.

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.  It was
re-referred to the Ways And Means Committee which exempts it from all
deadlines, and then referred back to the Public Health And Welfare
Committee.

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.  This bill is exempt from all deadlines.

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 Federal And State Affairs
Committee, which means that it is exempt from all deadlines.  The committee
amended the bill to make the decision to move the hearing or trial
permissive on the judge, rather than mandatory.  It passed the Senate, and
has been assigned to the House Judiciary Committee.

HOUSE  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  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.  It passed the committee, and passed the Senate 40 - 0.  It was
referred to the House Judiciary Committee, and I attended the scheduled
hearing for March 10, and presented the bill to the committee on March 11.
 I testified in support of the bill, and attempted to persuade the
committee to amend into it our notice of exemptions legislation that is
contained in HB 2371 and HB 2428, and HB 2332.  The committee did so, as
modified;  the committee also amended into the bill the contents of HB
2083.  Upon the advice of the committee staff, the committee made its
amendments by the introduction of a substitute bill.  The committee
amendments were adopted.  The House passed our amended bill 124 to 0.  The
bill is now in Conference Committee;  the Senate conferees have indicated
agreement with our amendments, but they are asking the House conferees to
agree to remove the floor amendment.

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.  This
Resolution is exempt from all deadlines.

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.  That committee amended the bill by increasing the fee
for service of summons on the Commissioner of Insurance from $25.00 to
$30.00.  The bill is now in Conference Committee.

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. It passed the House, and was referred
to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  That committee passed the bill, and so
did the Senate;  it has been signed by the Governor.

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.  It passed the committee, and the
House, and has been referred to the Senate Commerce Committee.  It was
referred to the Senate Ways And Means Committee;  the Committee and the
Senate passed it and it is on its way to the Governor.

HOUSE BILL 2206

This was introduced by and referred back to the House Judiciary Committee.
 It re-designates administrative judges as chief judges, to eliminate
confusion between them and administrative law judges.  It passed the House
and has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  That committee
passed the bill, and so did the Senate;  it was presented to the Governor
on March 30.

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 was referred to the Senate
Judiciary Committee.  I testified in support of the bill on March 11;  the
committee passed the bill.   The Senate addded a technical amendment to it;
 the House concurred with the Senate amendment, and the bill is on its way
to the Governor.

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 125 - 0, and has been
referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  I testified in support of the
bill on March 11.  Following the hearing, the committee reported the bill
favorably for passage.  The Senate passed the bill by a vote of 39 to 1,
and it was presented to the Governor on March 30.

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 HB 2428,  which were heard February 15.
 Unless referred to an exempt committee, no action will be taken on it in
1999.  When I testified in support of SB 306 on March 11, I attempted to
get the contents of this bill amended into SB 306.  The committee did so.
 Although the original bill is now inactive, the contents of the bill are a
part of House Substitute for SB 306.

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 was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee.  That
committee amended the bill by adding to it provisions of SB 94 which
increases the jurisdiction of District Magistrates to include the
conducting of preliminary examination of felony charges.  The amended bill
is now in Conference Committee.

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 February 15, and was later attempted to be worked by the committee
until the committee became confused.  The debate Wednesday and Thursday on
the sales tax issue kept the committee from having a further meeting at
which time it was hoped that the original attempt to amend and move the
bill would be revived.  Unless referred to an exempt committee, no action
will be taken on it in 1999.  I attempted to get the contents of this bill
amended into SB 306 when I testified before the committee on March 11.  The
committee did so.  Although the original bill is now inactive, the contents
of the bill are included as a part of House Substitute for SB 306.

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.  It was
heard February 15, and was anticipated to be worked at a committee hearing
on Wednesday, which ended up being canceled because of the extended sales
tax debate on the floor.  Unless referred to an exempt committee, no action
will be taken on it in 1999.  I attempted to get the contents of this bill
amended into SB 306 when I testified before the committee on March 11.  The
committee did so.  Although the original bill is now inactive, the contents
of the bill are included as a part of House Substitute for SB 306.

HOUSE  BILL  2528

This bill was introduced by the House Committee On Appropriations, which is
an exempt committee, making the bill exempt from all deadlines, and
referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  It amends K.S.A. 60-260
relating to civil procedure, specifically Motions For Relief.  It would
provide that motions to set aside an order of forfeiture and allocation of
forfeited property pursuant to K.S.A. 60-4117, shall be made not more than
one year after such order was entered.

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.  This is exempt from all deadlines.
 
 

BILLS  APPARENTLY  INACTIVE  FOR  1999

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 was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.  That committee
had a hearing on it on March 8, but decided to take no action on it.

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?)  A
hearing was held, but the committee took no action on it.

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,  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  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  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.
  The contents of the bill are now in House Substitute for SB 306, which is
in Conference 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  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 was on the regular calendar for debate.  Unfortunately,
during debate Rep. Bob Grant made a motion, which prevailed, to re-refer it
to the House 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. It is identical to HB 2352 and to SB 148.  HB 2352 is
in Conference Committee.

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, and was referred to
the House Judiciary Committee.   It is identical to SB 143, which is on its
way to the Governor.

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.

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.  The first section of this bill was
added as a floor amendment to House Substitute for SB 306, which is in
Conference Committee.

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.

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;  SB 97 is in Conference
Committee.

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 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.

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.  The committee made technical amendment. When the bill was
debated, it was referred back to the Judiciary Committee.

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.  Unless sent to an exempt committee, no action
will be taken on it in 1999.