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State Attorney General Kris Kobach wants to amend state law so that death warrants may be obtained by district judges, instead of the Kansas Supreme Court, and wants the state to allow executions by hypoxia.
The Republican state attorney general is pushing for legislation changing the execution process and authorizing a new and controversial execution method.
A top public defender in Kansas says the state is at a crisis point on the 60th anniversary of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that guarantees legal representation for those who can’t afford to hire an attorney.
TOPEKA — A top public defender in Kansas says the state is at a crisis point on the 60th anniversary of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that guarantees legal representation for those who can’t afford to hire an attorney. Heather Cessna, executive director of the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services, described the state’s shortage of public defenders as a natural disaster that is years in the making.
Short on staff, experience and pay, the head of the Kansas State Board of Indigents' Defense Services is asking state lawmakers to help alleviate the strain on the public defenders system.