<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/2/1582034969678.png" alt="A state website shows all the registered offenders within one mile of the Kansas Statehouse. Screenshot from the Kansas Bureau of Investigations' website" />
 <figcaption>A state website shows all the registered offenders within one mile of the Kansas Statehouse. Screenshot from the Kansas Bureau of Investigations' website</figcaption>
 </figure>By STEPHEN KORANDA <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-tracks-ex-convicts-no-other-state-lawmakers-wonder-if-theyve-gone-too-far#stream/0">Kansas News Service</a>TOPEKA — Kansas is <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-unmatched-tracking-ex-convicts-attracts-one-legal-challenge-after-another#stream/0" target="_blank">unmatched in its tracking of ex-convicts</a>, resulting in more than 21,000 people convicted of sex, drug or violent crimes being registered on a public database.One of them is Marc Schultz, <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/article/20110602/news/306029721" target="_blank">who was convicted</a> of manslaughter for hitting and killing a cyclist while driving drunk in 2010.“I
 will forever live with the burden of taking a man’s life for a decision
 that I made,” Schultz said Monday. “But I didn’t intend for this to 
happen.”He wants lawmakers to amend <a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/can-registries-cover-too-many-crimes-kansas-legislation-suggests-rollback#stream/0" target="_blank">Kansas’ registry rules</a>,
 and a committee forwarded two bills Monday to the full House. The 
legislation would scale back penalties that have grown in recent years —
 serious felonies and additional prison time can follow something as 
minor as not registering a new Instagram account or getting a new 
tattoo. Some people wouldn’t stay on the registry as long, either.“I
 think we’ve moved closer to what’s done nationally,” Republican Rep. 
Russ Jennings said. He’s the chair of the House Corrections and Juvenile
 Justice Committee. “There’s no evidence that suggests it provides for 
greater public safety. Most of it's anecdotal.”Schultz said he 
didn’t intentionally commit a violent crime, but still must register for
 15 years as a violent offender. He said the registry is a “scarlet 
letter” that makes it harder to find work. Plus, he said, filling the 
list with too many offenders is making it less useful for the public.“When people look at that map they don’t know the difference between the dots that they see,” he said.Jennifer
 Roth, co-chair of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 
told lawmakers earlier this month that it’s time to back off the rules.“We’re
 talking about people getting charged for things that are minor,” Roth 
said. “It doesn’t matter if something is minor or something is major. 
It’s all treated the same.”<h2>The details</h2><a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/measures/hb2474/" target="_blank">One of the bills</a>
 would reduce some penalties for not registering properly. It would also
 take longer to rack up additional violations, going from the current 30
 days to 90 days. And courts could waive the $20 registration fee for 
people who can’t afford them.<a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/measures/hb2475/" target="_blank">Another bill </a>would impact some of the <a href="http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2019_20/measures/documents/fisc_note_hb2475_00_0000.pdf" target="_blank">more than 4,100 people</a>
 on the drug-crime registry. Those who are convicted of crimes like 
distribution would face a five-year registration term instead of the 
current 15 years.Roth said the penalties for not updating registrations should be reduced because the current felony charges are too severe.“That’s the same as aggravated arson or an involuntary manslaughter or an aggravated robbery,” she said. “That makes no sense.”State
 officials say the changes would have a quick effect on the state’s 
prison system, which has been stretched to the point that hundreds of 
inmates were recently<a href="https://www.kcur.org/post/kansas-will-spend-millions-house-hundreds-inmates-private-arizona-prison#stream/0" target="_blank"> shipped to Arizona</a>. They estimate there’d be 130 fewer people in prison by 2030.Law
 enforcement opposed these changes, though. Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff
 Easter, representing the Kansas Sheriff’s Association, opposed the 
original plan to make some drug registries unavailable to the public.“Shouldn’t
 citizens be allowed to know that a convicted drug dealer has moved into
 their neighborhood?” Easter said in testimony.The committee amended the bill so the drug convictions would stay on the public registry.Still,
 Easter said, some registration rules do need to be changed. He said 
there should be a way to reduce the time someone is on the registry if 
they are complying with the rules.“There needs to be some type of exit strategy,” he said. “How do we get them off of the offender registry quicker?”Stephen Koranda is the Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio and the Kansas News Service. You can follow him on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/kprkoranda">@kprkoranda</a>.

Kan. tracks ex-convicts like no other state, but has it gone too far?