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Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas bill establishes certificates of employability for departing inmates to aid job hiring
Last action · April 10, 2026: Died in Senate Committee
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What This Bill Proposed
The Kansas Secretary of Corrections is required to issue a to qualifying inmates upon release, which employers may use as evidence of due care in claims. To qualify, inmates must meet specific educational, disciplinary, and job-skill criteria before release.
Employers hiring formerly incarcerated individuals gain a legal defense against claims if they relied on the state-issued certificate, while qualifying inmates receive an official credential documenting their job readiness.
- Certificates of employability are legislative tools designed to reduce legal barriers for individuals with criminal records seeking employment. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Inmates
Qualifying inmates receive a certificate of employability upon release and face misdemeanor penalties for misrepresenting certificate status.
Employers
Employers may use the certificate of employability as evidence of due care or as a defense in negligent hiring claims.
Secretary of Corrections
The secretary is responsible for identifying educational histories, issuing, revoking, confirming, and reporting on certificates of employability while receiving immunity from related damages.
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 qualifies an inmate to receive a certificate of employability?
How does the certificate affect employers?
Can a certificate of employability be revoked?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died in committee.
Procedural history
12 actions- Apr 10, 2026SenateDied in Senate Committee
- Feb 26, 2025SenateCommitteeReferred to Senate Committee on Judiciary
- Feb 26, 2025HouseEngrossed on Tuesday, February 25, 2025
- Feb 25, 2025SenateIntroducedReceived and Introduced
- Feb 20, 2025HouseFloorFinal Action - Passed as amended
- Feb 19, 2025HouseCommittee of the Whole - Now working on
Show 6 earlier actions
- Feb 19, 2025HouseFloorCommittee of the Whole - Committee Report be adopted
- Feb 19, 2025HouseFloorCommittee of the Whole - Be passed as amended
- Feb 17, 2025HouseFloorCommittee Report recommending bill be passed as amended by
- Feb 11, 2025HouseHearing: Tuesday, February 11, 2025, 1:30 PM — Room 546-S
- Feb 7, 2025HouseIntroducedIntroduced
- Feb 7, 2025HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice
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.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 60)
- Controversy40Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment5Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz25Current news / social attention level
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