Over the past two weeks, the Kansas Supreme Court has issued a slew of opinions addressing challenges to the Kansas Offender Registration Act (“KORA”) under the Ex Post Facto Clause of the United States Constitution—concluding with an apparent invitation to prove that the KORA has special punitive effects on non-sex offenders. The Ex Post Facto…
Kansas law permits expungement of certain convictions, adjudications, arrest records, and diversion agreements. Once an eligible offense is expunged, a person must be treated as if he has never been arrested for, convicted of, or diverted from the expunged crime. Though the expunged offense will still be considered when determining criminal history in any subsequent…
Juveniles who are arrested on felonies and some misdemeanors will be held in custody until they appear before a judge for a detention hearing (within 48 hours of arrest). The result of the hearing can be a huge factor for how stressful a case can be for the juvenile and juvenile’s family. At the detention…
If you have been arrested, convicted or had a criminal charge diverted in the state of Kansas, you may be eligible to have those records sealed. Kansas laws allows the Court to seal criminal arrests, diversion or convictions after the statutory waiting period has expired. For example, a misdemeanor possession of marijuana charge can be…
“I Just Want to Get This Over With”: The Importance of Attorney Consultation, Even When You Would Rather Just Move On Way too often we’ve heard people come into our office and say, “I just wanted to get it over with, so I pled guilty.” These people did not hire a lawyer. They did not…