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Read. Follow. Verify.Kansas Bill Modifies Citizen Grand Jury Petition Procedures and Limits Criminal Liability
Last action · April 10, 2026: Died in Committee
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What This Bill Proposed
This bill alters the citizen petition process to impanel a grand jury in Kansas by requiring pre-signature judicial review, establishing new petition signature thresholds, limiting criminal liability for good faith participants, and prohibiting s for indictments returned by such grand juries.
Residents seeking to impanel a citizen grand jury face stricter pre-screening requirements and signature verification rules, while petition initiators and signers receive explicit immunity protections for good-faith conduct.
- Citizen grand juries by petition serve as an alternative legal mechanism under Kansas law for residents to seek criminal investigations when they believe authorities are unresponsive. 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.
Petition Initiators
Initiators must submit petitions for judicial review prior to gathering signatures, act as the first witness before the grand jury, and receive presumptive immunity for good-faith conduct.
District Court Judges
Judges are required to review citizen petitions within five days of filing, instruct impaneled grand juries, and handle witness compliance issues.
Prosecuting Attorneys
Prosecutors are restricted from entering into diversion agreements for indictments returned by citizen grand juries and have structured attendance rules during grand jury sessions.
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 signatures are required to impanel a citizen grand jury under this bill?
Can petition initiators face criminal charges for their petition activities?
What happens if a prosecuting attorney decides not to prosecute a case from a citizen grand jury indictment?
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
4 actions- Apr 10, 2026HouseDied in Committee
- Jan 29, 2026HouseHearing: Thursday, January 29, 2026, 3:30 PM — Room 582-N
- Jan 23, 2026HouseIntroducedIntroduced
- Jan 23, 2026HouseCommitteeReferred to House Committee on Judiciary
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.
Restriction on Diversion Agreements
The bill explicitly strips prosecutors of the ability to offer diversion agreements for indictments stemming from citizen grand juries, marking a distinct procedural constraint.
Connected Entities
Sources
www.kslegislature.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 75)
- Controversy65Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz35Current news / social attention level
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