Push still on to get Kansas bill into law to stop ‘prone’ position use on teens
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – This week, lawmakers are making a last-minute effort to revive a bill to make changes to how teens can be restrained.
Senate Bill 504 in Kansas would stop the use of the “prone” position restraint of teens. That is restraining a juvenile face down, with an officer or officers on top of the juvenile.
Activists and family members of Cedric Lofton say the 17 year old died while in the custody of Sedgwick County after being held in the prone position back in 2021 in the Juvenile Intake and Assessment Center.
“I feel what should be done is the obvious answer. The position has been known to be deadly,” said Marquan Teetz, Cedric Lofton’s brother.
But time is running out to outlaw the use of the prone restraint state-wide for officers looking to get control of a teen in custody.
“It’s not over until sine die, until the session is totally over. We’ve still got more debating to do. There is still time for this bill to become law,” said Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, D-Wichita. “There are other ways to restrain a person other than using the prone position.”
Faust-Goudeau says the clock is ticking on the bill because it never got a hearing for debate. And this late in the lawmaking session in Kansas, legislators are looking at voting on bills that have already had a debate in committee rather than giving bills a chance for first-time debate.
Some other lawmakers are also pushing for the potential to attach Senate Bill 504 to another measure to get it passed into law.
“It’s never too late in the legislature,” said Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita. “It seems to be a good idea. It’s certainly an idea that is worth holding hearings.”
Carmichael points out time for hearings on new bills is past for this legislative session.
“Likelihood of taking up another hearing is between slim and nil. It’s not going to happen,” said Carmichael.
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He also says lawmakers could have taken a closer look much earlier at what he calls a common-sense proposal.
“But to a layperson, it seems obvious that you should not hold a child in the prone position on the ground for 30 minutes,” said Carmichael.
Faust-Goudeau is still hopeful Senate Bill 504 will get attached to another measure and become law in 2024.
“Senate Bill 504 can certainly be put into a floor amendment,” said Faust-Goudeau. “It would have to go on legislation. Another bill that is germane, that’s similar to what we are trying to do here.”
“I don’t have that crystal ball, but anything is possible. Again, it just depends on the advocacy and the desire to pass good policies and procedures,” said Faust-Goudeau.
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