Ad Hoc Committee on Bonding Practices, Fines, and Fees in Municipal Courts

Municipal court study

The Supreme Court established the Ad Hoc Committee on Bonding Practices, Fines, and Fees in Municipal Courts to:

• study and examine current pre-trial bonding practices, fines, and fees;

• study and examine the practices of other jurisdictions and compare them to Kansas practices;

• compare effective bonding practices developed by other courts;

• study and examine the methods used by other courts to reduce the issuance of bench warrants and jailing of people for nonpayment of fines and fees;

• identify statutory impediments to implementing recommendations; and

• prioritize topics to train municipal court judges on pre-trial bonding practices and reducing the issuance of bench warrants and jailing of people for nonpayment of fees and fines.

Recommendations

The committee released its report September 6, 2018.