Dylan Lysen
Social Services and Criminal Justice Reporter, Kansas News ServiceAs the Kansas social services and criminal justice reporter, I want to inform our audience about how the state government wants to help its residents and keep their communities safe. Sometimes that means I follow developments in the Legislature and explain how lawmakers alter laws and services of the state government. Other times, it means questioning the effectiveness of state programs and law enforcement methods. And most importantly, it includes making sure the voices of everyday Kansans are heard. You can reach me at dlysen@kcur.org, 816-235-8027 or on Threads, @DylanLysen.
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Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed the Kansas law that denies civil asset forfeiture in cases of lower level crimes like simple possession of drugs. It also forces police to return seized property faster.
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LaTurner cited spending more time with family and young children as the reason for his decision.
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Families have been blocked from visiting inmates since March 1. A union president for prison staff believes an investigation justifying the tightened rules is dragging on as a way to circumvent the union’s contract.
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Prison officials say the facility is in modified operations and has beefed up security to investigate a report of a firearm entering the facility. In letters, inmates say it’s more like a lockdown. They are stressed and rarely leave their cells.
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The Douglas County Sheriff's Office is working with local mental health providers to cut down the state’s notoriously long wait times to provide services to inmates declared incompetent to stand trial.
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Interest in Choose Topeka’s relocation incentive has spiked among first-generation Latino immigrants. Program officials say the city's established Spanish-speaking community is a big reason why.
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Burying existing overhead power lines in developed neighborhoods would cost billions of dollars. That cost would immediately show up on electricity bills.
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A bill in the Kansas Legislature that would cut millions from the state’s wildlife department comes after a lawmaker threatened to defund the state agency for considering deer-baiting restrictions.
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Excitement around Taylor Swift’s connection to the Chiefs is adding to what is already the biggest sports betting day of the year. But the state of Kansas, where sports gambling is legal, might end up with little tax revenue.
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Shelly Lamb argues in a federal lawsuit that coworkers and inmates at the Kansas Department of Corrections harassed her and the department violated her civil rights and committed sex discrimination because she is a transgender woman.