Committee offers recommendations on bond, fees in Kansas municipal courts

In an effort to increase equity in Kansas municipal courts, a committee offered 18 recommendations Wednesday on bond, fines and fees.

The ad hoc committee was formed about a year ago at the direction of the Kansas Supreme Court. Economically disadvantaged people are disproportionately jailed because of their inability to post bond or pay court fees, Chief Justice Lawton Nuss said. Some municipal courts use a bond schedule that lists a crime and a bond amount. “Just to take a bond schedule, which is one size fits all, and not look at the individual characteristics of each defendant is a problem,” Nuss said.