Gov. Kelly signs Caleb's Law
Gov. Laura Kelly announced on Monday, April 6, that she signed House Bill 2537, known as Caleb’s Law, which expands and strengthens Kansas law to better combat sexual extortion and protect victims. The legislation is named after Caleb Moore, a 14-year-old from El Dorado, who died by suicide after being targeted by an online sextortion scheme.
House Bill 2537 enhances criminal penalties and establishes new offenses to expand the types of exploitation that are covered by Kansas law. It also broadens the definition of sexual extortion and requires statewide education efforts to help students, parents and educators recognize and prevent exploitation. The bill requires the attorney general to work with the Kansas State Board of Education and law enforcement agencies to prepare and provide educational materials and information regarding sexual extortion.
House Bill 2537 strengthens existing Kansas statute by expanding the definition of sexual extortion to include threats involving explicit images, increasing penalties when an offender is 18 years of age or older and the victim is less than 18 years of age or a dependent adult.
In addition to House Bill 2537, Gov. Kelly also signed the following bipartisan bills.
• House Bill 2574: Removes the expiration on certain cybersecurity requirements, modifies the duties of chief information security officers and cybersecurity programs and requires assessment of executive branch agency compliance with cybersecurity requirements.
• House Bill 2602: Establishes requirements for a portable benefit plan for independent contractors, determines types of contributions to such plans and provides a subtraction modification for Kansas income tax purposes.
• House Bill 2618: Requires the state board of education to report to the legislature on federal moneys received by the state, ends certain educational reporting requirements and applies expiration dates to other educational reporting requirements.
• House Bill 2644: Requires a county appraiser to adjust the value of residential and commercial property upon final determination or obtain a fee simple appraisal if the appraised value exceeds five percent increase over three years.
• House Bill 2737: Enacts the taxpayer agreement act to provide for an alternative method of tax increment financing of municipal economic development projects through taxpayer agreements.
• House Bill 2747: Specifies that courts shall consider certain factors in determining whether a prior violation of law is comparable to any act described in certain driving under the influence crimes when calculating a person’s criminal history score under the Kansas sentencing guidelines act.
• House Bill 2769: Requires members of governing bodies of subordinate service taxing areas to be residents of such taxing areas.
• House Bill 2781: Authorizes the state historical society to acquire the junior officers’ quarters at Fort Dodge and provide for the use, preservation, improvement, control and maintenance thereof.
