The Kansas Supreme Court sought to bring clarity to prosecution of driving-under-the-influence offenses Friday by unanimously granting district courts authority to view prior DUI convictions in Missouri as comparable to the Kansas law. The court examined the Kansas Legislature’s modification of state law in 2018 aimed at accounting for DUIs from other states. The justices said lawmakers sought to eliminate an “identical-to-or-narrower-than” test used in Kansas to determine whether alleged DUI offenders should be charged with a misdemeanor or felony. The court determined Kansas legislators wanted prosecutors in this state to include out-of-state violations of laws broader than Kansas’ infractions, specifically Missouri’s driving-while-intoxicated statute.
Source: The Lawrence Times
