TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas legislators are working to give prosecutors and courts time to clear a backlog of several thousand criminal cases that built up during the coronavirus pandemic, though they disagree about how much is enough time.
The Senate approved a bill Wednesday night that would suspend until May 1, 2023, a law aimed at protecting criminal defendants’ constitutional right to a speedy trial. The law requires cases to come to trial within five months of a defendant who has been jailed entering a plea, and within six months if the defendant is free on bond. Lawmakers say there’s a backlog of about 5,000 criminal cases.
Prosecutors worry many of them will have to be dismissed if the deadlines are not suspended.
