There’s a referee shortage in Kansas. Can criminalizing sports official abuse fix it?

John Dehan never quite forgot the feeling of an upset parent shoving him up against the wall during a game.

The veteran Kansas sports official had refereed sports alongside his dad right about when he graduated high school, and it stuck. He loved the job, right until he had to hold back an upset basketball player from starting a brawl with the opposing team.

Next thing he knew, the player’s dad had Dehan up against the wall.

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It was experiences like that that turned Dehan away from working too often as an on-court referee, and although he later became a highly decorated and respected referee manager and director of officiating, it’s that position that helps intimately understand a dire shortage of referees around Kansas because of abusive fans and coaches.

Dehan, owner of the Call the Game officiating organization in eastern Kansas, last week testified in front of the House Education Committee in support of HB 2139. The bill would add an extra level of protection for sports officials at all levels, bumping any physical assault, spitting, menacing, threatening or abusive language against them up to a Class B misdemeanor.

That level of crime carries a fine of up to $1,000, up to six months in jail, or both. For harassment against minor sports officials, the bill would increase the penalty to a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $2,500, up to a year in jail, or both.

“We need to do something along those categories to help protect us,” Dehan told the committee. “And quite frankly, I think the penalty should be that that person should have to go referee a game.”

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HB 2139 would also protect college and professional sports referees from abusive fans

In addition to on-field umpires and referees, HB 2139 would protect other officials, such linesmen, timekeepers, assistants, inspectors, judges or any other person who helps officiate a competitive event.

While the bill is mainly directed at athletic events, other activities, such as high school debate and forensics, would be included in the bill as currently written. HB 2139 also includes officials at any level, include collegiate and professional sports.

At any rate, Dehan said he and other officials would be fine narrowing the scope of the bill to just youth and high-school level sports officials, since those levels are where shortages are most acute. Additionally, most college and professional-level sports officials already receive contracted protection from local police and state highway patrol members.

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Bill Faflick, executive director for the Kansas State High School Activities Association, said the organization supports the bill and any effort that can help it tackle what is a historic low in the number of sports officials available for games.

He said that the No. 1 reason officials quit or fail to join in the first place is mistreatment from coaches and fans.

“It’s not a game if you don’t have officials,” Faflick said. “Without officials, it’s just recess. Now, I love recess, but the educational benefit of recess is not the same as the educational benefit of interscholastic activities, where there is a standard that is accomplished for kids to be able to represent their school.”

Committee chair: Even threat of a new bill could help stop Kansas fans' abusive behavior toward referees

Similar bills have come before the Kansas Legislature in years past, including last year, as part of efforts to make sports officials a protected class, similar to the way police officers and emergency workers enjoy enhanced protection from abuse and harassment.

But many committee members expressed skepticism that elevating sports official abuse by one misdemeanor level would do anything, since assault or other similar harassment is already illegal but does not prevent such behavior.

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“How do you see this helping?” Rep. Owen Donohoe, R-Shawnee, asked the sports officials. “Let me give you, for instance, policemen. If you talk to a policeman today, they’re a protected class, basically, but they’re getting more abuse now than they ever did before. It’s not helped them.”

Others, though, were more hopeful that legislative action, even if just a hearing, could help curtail the problem of abuse, which could in turn remove one of the biggest reasons sports officials leave the profession.

“We’re never going to stop all crimes from happening,” said Rep. Adam Thomas, R-Olathe and chair. “We’re never going to stop people from running on the court and doing stupid things they’ve done for years.

“But if we can send a message that it’s on our radar and law enforcement is paying attention, it’s certainly — as a worst case scenario, in my mind — a good faith gesture to our officials.”

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The bill passed out of committee Monday on a 9-6 vote.

“I’d just be happy to see anything versus nothing, at this point,” Dehan had earlier told the committee.

Rafael Garcia is an education reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at rgarcia@cjonline.com or by phone at ‪785-289-5325. Follow him on Twitter at @byRafaelGarcia.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas referee abuse bill could help with sports official shortages