Kansas Criminal Records
Kansas criminal records, also referred to as rap sheets, detail a person’s complete criminal history in the state. Criminal records include warrants, arrests, convictions, jail time, and other relevant information. Under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), criminal records are open for inspection and copying for a fee upon request unless the requested records are confidential, including the following:
- Records undergoing criminal investigation
- Records protected by attorney-client privilege
- Records closed by rules of evidence
A criminal record in Kansas usually contains the following information:
Full name of the defendant or offender, which includes aliases
What Are the Types of Crimes in Kansas?
Crimes in Kansas are categorized into misdemeanors and felonies. However, the Kansas criminal code categorizes crimes into two parts, namely violent and property crimes.
Violent crimes include murder, aggravated assault, battery, rape, and robbery.
Property crimes include. trespassing, damage to property, larceny, theft, fraud, and arson.
The major difference between a misdemeanor and a felony is the sentence according to the statute. If a sentence falls within a year or less, then the crime is a misdemeanor. If the sentencing statute is more than a year, then the crime is categorized as a felony.
Misdemeanors in Kansas criminal records also have four classes:
- Class A misdemeanors have a maximum fine of $2,500 and jail time of 12 months. An example of this offense is possession of marijuana for personal use.
- Class B misdemeanors have a maximum fine of $1,000 and jail time of six months. Battery by hitting or striking someone is an example of this misdemeanor.
- Class C misdemeanors have a maximum fine of $500 and one month jail time. An offense that falls under this category is patronizing a prostitute.
- Unclassified misdemeanors are similar to Class C offenses, but the sentence depends on the statute specified for the offense committed. An example of an offense under this category is selling a car without a license.
Felonies, on the other hand, are classified between drug and non-drug offenses with severity levels between 1 being the maximum to 10 minimum with their corresponding penalties below:
- Severity level 1: 12 to 15 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 2: 9 to 41 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 3: 4.5 to 20.5 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 4: 3 to 14 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 5: 2.5 to 10.5 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 6: 1.5 to 4 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 7: 1 to 3 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 8: 7 months to 2 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 9: 5 months to 1.5 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 10: 5 months to 1 year of imprisonment
Drug Crimes involve the sale of narcotics, manufacturing of controlled substances, possession of opioids, and sale of hallucinogens.
- Severity level 1: 10.5 to 17 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 2: approx. 7.5 to 12 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 3: 4 to 7 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 4: 1 to 4.25 years of imprisonment
- Severity level 5: 10 months to 3.5 years of imprisonment
Non-drug crimes involve burglary of a dwelling, the theft of property of more than $100,000, murder, and manslaughter, to name a few.
How Does Probation Work in Kansas?
Probation is an alternative type of sentencing in Kansas where offenders will be released into the community under the supervision and monitoring of a probation officer. Offenders under probation have to pay a supervision fee of up to $30 unless they are determined by the court as an indigent which will result in a waived fee.
Below are the statutes for the length of probation for crimes committed on or after July 1, 1993, in Kansas:
- Non-drug felonies with severity levels 9 and 10, and drug felonies with several levels 4 and 5 are eligible for probation of 12 months.
- Non-drug felonies with severity levels 8, and drug crimes with severity levels 3 and 4 (before July 1, 2012) are eligible for probation of 18 months.
- Non-drug felonies with severity levels 1 to 5 are eligible for probation of 36 months. .
An offender under probation also needs to follow the given mandatory conditions:
- Obey the laws of the state
- Provide reparation or restitution to the victim
- Pay the district court a supervision fee ($60 for misdemeanors and $120 for felonies)
- Reimburse the State General Fund for part of all of the expenditures of the defendant
- Be subject to random and reasonable searches, drug, and alcohol tests.
How Does Parole Work in Kansas?
The state of Kansas has a Board of Parole consisting of district judges. These judges make all the rules and regulations concerning parole in the state and decide if an offender qualifies. The period of parole shall not exceed two years and an offender should abide by the special conditions imposed by the board and the parole officer, including the following:
- Reporting to the parole officer with regard to residence and employment
- Offenders should not have any contact with their victim or victims
- Must not possess any firearms or ammunition and also explosives
- Must not possess or use any drugs, narcotics, or alcohol
Any serious violation of the special conditions provided during parole can result to the cancellation of conditional release. The judge can also reinstate an offender’s jail sentence.
How Does Expungement Work in Kansas?
Expungement of Kansas criminal records is available by filing a petition to the court with the jurisdiction for the cases. However, interested parties can only file for expungement once the required amount of time has passed of at least three years for traffic violations and minor offenses. More serious misdemeanors and felonies require at least five years before becoming eligible for expungement.
Once filed, the court will decide if the records are eligible for expungement. A docket fee of $100 applies for expungement and once approved, the clerk of the court will mail a certified copy to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI).
However, note that the following offenses are not eligible for expungement:
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Endangering a child
- Abuse of a child
- Sexual battery of minors aged 18 and below
- Rape
- Indecent liberties with a child
- Indecent solicitation of a child
- Aggravated criminal sodomy
- Aggravated incest
- Commercial driving under the influence
How To Obtain a Criminal Record in Kansas
Interested parties can get their criminal record in Kansas using different ways.
Online
The most convenient way to get Kansas criminal records is online at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation criminal history record check. The public only needs a KanAccess account to log in and perform record searches for $20 each.
Remember that record searches are only available between 4:00 a.m. to midnight central time every day. The unavailable hours are allotted for the website’s scheduled maintenance. The site also uses a time-stamped authentication token that will automatically log out after 30 minutes of inactivity for added security.
Another quick way to find if someone has a criminal history or any such record is to use the offender lookup tool of the KBI wherein the public can perform a name search, geographical search, or use an offender’s phone number or online identity such as their email or Facebook account.
Another way to get criminal records is to send a mail request addressed to the KBI. Mail requests are often used for visa applications and employment purposes.
Aside from the form, requestors must enclose their mail requests with a fingerprint card and a $35 fee, which can be a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order, payable to the KBI Record Fee Fund.
To: Kansas Bureau of Investigation
Attn: Criminal History Records Section
1620 SW Tyler
Topeka, KS 66612-1837
Note that there is a separate fee for the fingerprinting service. The KBI also processes mail requests for criminal records between 10 to 14 days upon receipt of the request.
Third-party sites
Third-party websites also offer free searches of Kansas criminal records. However, the results may vary and be limited, given that third-party websites are not government-funded.
Counties in Kansas
- Allen
- Anderson
- Atchison
- Barber
- Barton
- Bourbon
- Brown
- Butler
- Chase
- Chautauqua
- Cherokee
- Cheyenne
- Clark
- Clay
- Cloud
- Coffey
- Comanche
- Cowley
- Crawford
- Decatur
- Dickinson
- Doniphan
- Douglas
- Edwards
- Elk
- Ellis
- Ellsworth
- Finney
- Ford
- Franklin
- Geary
- Gove
- Graham
- Grant
- Gray
- Greeley
- Greenwood
- Hamilton
- Harper
- Harvey
- Haskell
- Hodgeman
- Jackson
- Jefferson
- Jewell
- Johnson
- Kearny
- Kingman
- Kiowa
- Labette
- Lane
- Leavenworth
- Lincoln
- Linn
- Logan
- Lyon
- Marion
- Marshall
- Mcpherson
- Meade
- Miami
- Mitchell
- Montgomery
- Morris
- Morton
- Nemaha
- Neosho
- Ness
- Norton
- Osage
- Osborne
- Ottawa
- Pawnee
- Phillips
- Pottawatomie
- Pratt
- Rawlins
- Reno
- Republic
- Rice
- Riley
- Rooks
- Rush
- Russell
- Saline
- Scott
- Sedgwick
- Seward
- Shawnee
- Sheridan
- Sherman
- Smith
- Stafford
- Stanton
- Stevens
- Sumner
- Thomas
- Trego
- Wabaunsee
- Wallace
- Washington
- Wichita
- Wilson
- Woodson
- Wyandotte