By Deanna Ambrose
KU Statehouse Wire Service

TOPEKA – A bill that would lower penalties for owning drug paraphernalia and give harsher penalties to those convicted of domestic aggravated assault was unanimously passed in the House on Tuesday, after being consolidated with several other bills.

Originally, Senate Bill 112 focused on matching the penalty for possession of paraphernalia, objects for ingesting or using drugs, to the penalty of owning drugs.

Last year, legislators dropped marijuana to a slightly lower offense. Now SB 112 includes what used to be four separate bills, but all relate to crime.

Kim Parker, the prosecutor coordinator of the Kansas County and District Attorney Association, said the legislation needed to be updated.

“Last year when they changed possession of marijuana classes they essentially kind of forgot about paraphernalia and left it higher than possession of marijuana, which was unintended,” Parker said. “For prosecutors, it was very unusual to start thinking about prosecuting people for a higher class than the drug itself.”

Rep. Blaine Finch (R-Ottawa) said the bill is not an effort to decriminalize marijuana use.
“I wouldn’t characterize it as a step in decriminalization; I would characterize it as a step in proportionality,” Finch said.

The bill also classifies strangulation of a partner as aggravated domestic assault. The new definition would include any people who are or were in a dating relationship, not just couples living together.

“Oftentimes [choking] doesn’t leave physical marks; because of that it becomes a different type of proof than what you’re normally used to,” Parker said.

It already is a crime if a person attempts to strangle a partner but the new bill would give it a higher penalty.

The bill would also require audio recording of police interrogations and reclassify the felony charge on home burglaries to reflect the personal nature of a home burglary.

Parker also said the association supported all the bills separately and still does after being added together to SB 112. The bill now needs to be approved by the Senate with the additions before it can be sent to Gov. Sam Brownback’s desk.

Deanna Ambrose is a senior studying journalism at the University of Kansas from Frankfort.