Sentencing symposium offered in Johnson County

TOPEKA—Ever wonder what judges are thinking when they sentence an offender to probation?  To prison?  Why aren’t all offenders just put away until some magic day when they see the light and decide to not commit crimes again?  After all, if they do the crime, shouldn’t they do the time?

To help area news media and other community leaders make sense of the state’s complex sentencing guidelines, Johnson County Chief Judge Stephen Tatum has scheduled a sentencing symposium for Monday, February 11,  from 9—11 a.m. in the Judges Conference Room on the sixth floor of the Johnson County Courthouse in downtown Olathe.

Featured speaker will be Helen J. Pedigo, executive director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, who will speak on the subject “Unraveling the Mysteries of Sentencing Guidelines.”

“Perhaps no other duty of a district judge gets closer scrutiny by the media than sentencing someone to a penal or community correction facility or placing an offender on probation,” Chief Judge Tatum said in announcing Monday’s program.

“Just as we judges want to understand the needs of the media in explaining sentencing decisions, we want the media and our community to understand the sentencing guidelines and the process that judges must go through when imposing sentences,” Judge Tatum commented.

“Why do some offenders receive probation, yet others are sent to prison?  When may judges depart from the sentencing guidelines?  We hope these and any other questions on the mind of members of the media will be answered at this symposium,” he said.

Cameras and recording devices are permitted at this session, and questions from the media to Judge Tatum will be welcome.