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Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas expands financial card crime laws to penalize unauthorized gift card acquisition, tampering, and fraud
Last action · April 9, 2026: Enrolled and presented to Governor on Monday, March 30, 2026
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What This Bill Does
Kansas criminalizes the unauthorized acquisition, retention, alteration, or tampering of gift cards and under the state's financial card crime statutes. The severity of the offense ranges from a class A misdemeanor to a severity level 7 nonperson felony, depending on the monetary value obtained within a seven-day period.
People engaged in retail fraud involving gift cards face felony or misdemeanor prosecution depending on the total dollar amount involved over a week. Retailers and consumers gain explicit statutory protections against unauthorized gift card manipulation and theft.
- K.S.A. 21-5828 is a Kansas statute governing the criminal use of financial cards, which sets felony and misdemeanor thresholds based on the monetary value of property obtained fraudulently. context
Who It Affects
Groups the bill's text affects, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Gift card sellers
Merchants engaged in selling gift cards gain explicit statutory protections against unauthorized acquisition and tampering.
Cardholders
Consumers and entities holding financial or gift cards receive expanded legal recourse against fraud involving card redemption information.
Key Facts
You don't have to trust us. Each fact below is taken straight from the official document - click any one to see the exact passage, highlighted in the original.
Frequently Asked Questions
What constitutes criminal use of a gift card under this law?
How are the criminal penalties determined?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
Current status: Signed into law.
Procedural history
24 actions- Apr 9, 2026SenateEnrolled and presented to Governor on Monday, March 30, 2026
- Apr 9, 2026SenateEnrolledApproved by Governor on Tuesday, April 7, 2026
- Mar 27, 2026HouseConference committee report now available
- Mar 27, 2026HouseFloorConference Committee Report was adopted
- Mar 27, 2026SenateFloorConference Committee Report was adopted
- Mar 19, 2025HouseFloorMotion to accede adopted; Representative Humphries, Representative Williams, Representative Osman, , appointed as conferees
Show 18 earlier actions
- Mar 18, 2025SenateNonconcurred with amendments; Conference Committee requested; appointed , and
- Mar 13, 2025HouseCommittee of the Whole - Now working on
- Mar 13, 2025HouseFloorCommittee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
- Mar 13, 2025HouseFloorCommittee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
- Mar 13, 2025HouseFloorMotion to advance to Emergency Final Action adopted
- Mar 13, 2025HouseFloorEmergency Final Action - Passed as amended
- Mar 7, 2025HouseFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by
- Feb 27, 2025HouseHearing: Thursday, February 27, 2025, 3:30 PM — Room 582-N
- Feb 13, 2025HouseIntroducedReceived and Introduced
- Feb 13, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Judiciary
- Feb 11, 2025SenateCommittee of the Whole - Now working on
- Feb 11, 2025SenateFloorCommittee of the Whole - Be passed
- Feb 11, 2025Senatefa_fabc_912
- Feb 11, 2025SenateFloorEmergency Final Action - Passed
- Feb 4, 2025SenateFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed by
- Feb 3, 2025SenateHearing: Monday, February 3, 2025, 10:30 AM — Room 346-S
- Jan 28, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Senate Committee on Judiciary
- Jan 27, 2025SenateIntroducedIntroduced
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Expansion of Financial Card Statutes to Gift Cards
The legislation formally bridges traditional financial card fraud statutes with modern gift card tampering and redemption data theft.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance65How much this matters to a regular citizen
- Controversy15Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz20Current news / social attention level
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