TOPEKA — Posting a “Wizard of Oz” meme and accusing Gov. Laura Kelly of “political spite,” House Speaker Dan Hawkins led the cost to make those that severely injure or kill police dogs pay for his or her medical care or funerals.
House Bill 2583generally known as “Bane’s Law,” was impressed by a Sedgwick County service canine named Bane that was killed final 12 months by a fleeing suspect the canine had chased right into a sewer drain.
Kelly vetoed the invoice however on Monday was overridden 105-20 within the House and 29-10 within the Senate The regulation will increase penalties for inflicting hurt on regulation enforcement animals, together with horses. The felony crime is now punishable by a minimal of 90 days in jail and a minimal high-quality of $10,000.
During the incarceration interval, the perpetrator additionally should undergo a psychological analysis and completion of an anger administration program as a situation of probation, though this provision is already included in Kansas statute.
The invoice was launched by Hawkins, R-Wichita, and Rep. Stephen Owens, R-Hesston, earlier within the session. Kansas statute beforehand required a minimal of 30 days in jail and a high-quality of greater than $500 and fewer than $5,000 for the crime of severely harming or killing police dogs.
In her veto clarification, Kelly mentioned the dying of regulation enforcement animals is at all times a tragedy, however the heightened sentencing, psychological analysis and anger administration necessities weren’t mandated for different, extra extreme offenses.
“House Bill 2583 imposes mandatory minimum sentences that disregard important factors that should be left to the discretion of a judge through the regular sentencing process,” Kelly mentioned. “Second, the mandatory sentences are out of line with other, more severe crimes without justification for why that is required. Third, while the requirement for a psychological evaluation and anger management program are important, we do not apply this same standard to many other heinous crimes.”
In response, Hawkins posted on X a meme of Kelly photoshopped into an image of the Wicked Witch of the West from “The Wizard of Oz,” with the caption, “I’ll get you law enforcement, and your little dogs too!” Underneath, he wrote: “Don’t forget Gov. Kelly vetoed a bill increasing penalties for killing or injuring police dogs out of pure political spite.”
Others shared Kelly’s considerations concerning the implications of the invoice’s heightened punishments.
Because individuals who hurt or kill these animals beneath the regulation are actually liable for restitution to the regulation enforcement company — paying for the injured animal’s medical therapy, in addition to funeral bills if the animal dies, and the cost of changing and coaching a brand new animal — bills may be 1000’s of {dollars}, including a further burden to the jail time and high-quality.
Rep. Ford Carr, D-Wichita, talked about the historic use of police dogs to hurt folks combating for equality through the Civil Rights motion in earlier invoice debate.
“We should trust the police, but oftentimes we can’t, and that’s an issue,” Carr mentioned throughout Monday’s House veto override debate.
Rep. Timothy Johnson, R-Basehor, who labored for many years in regulation enforcement and had expertise with police canine coaching, pushed again on Carr’s claims. Johnson mentioned the dogs had been extremely educated for all circumstances.
“They are not used as bite dogs. That is not their focus,” Johnson mentioned. “… They become your family. I had one of the most wonderful German Shepherds in my entire life experience. We literally had a family funeral when he passed away. That animal would obey every and any command. I could walk in a schoolhouse among children and you would never know. Please, do not equate things that happened in the 1960s, in the ‘50s, with the way training is done now. It’s not allowed.”
Owens introduced up the circumstance of Bane’s dying in his protection of the invoice, emphasizing Okay-9 officers’ position in defending officers.
“That defendant brutally kicked that dog and caused significant internal damage to the point it was so weak that that individual was able to strangle that dog to death,” Owens mentioned. “I want you to think if we had sent a law enforcement officer down there, how that might have played out.”
