By MEG WINGERTER

Unless the Legislature makes a change, community mental health centers across Kansas will have to allow patients and staff to bring their guns starting in July.

A 2013 state law requires most publicly owned buildings to allow concealed weapons or to install metal detectors and post armed guards. The law included a four-year exemption for community mental health centers, universities, publicly owned medical facilities, nursing homes and low-income health clinics that ends July 1.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee had a hearing Thursday on a bill that would make the some exemptions permanent, however. Senate Bill 235 would continue the exemption for medical facilities, including the University of Kansas Hospital, but not college campuses.

Tim DeWeese, director of the Johnson County Mental Health Center, said he hopes lawmakers decide to continue the exemption for community mental health centers. He estimated it would cost millions to secure the center’s four buildings.

“There’s just no way we can take that much money away from services,” he said.

The mental health center already trains its employees to recognize and respond to signs of danger in case a patient decides to break the rules and bring a weapon, DeWeese said. Still, he worries that if more people bring guns, the odds of a violent incident will go up.

“With it being legal to do so, you’re going to see an increase” in people bringing guns, he said.

How To Afford Added Security?

Brett Hildabrand, a former legislator who lobbies on behalf of the Kansas State Rifle Association, told the committee it would be naïve to assume patients already aren’t bringing guns into hospitals or mental health treatment facilities.

“We believe the facility should provide adequate security or allow individuals to feel secure” by carrying their own handguns, he said.

Most community mental health centers don’t have extra money for the added security measures, said Colin Thomasset, associate director of the Association of Community Mental Health Centers of Kansas. The state has cut its base grant to the 26 centers by 70 percent since fiscal year 2007, he said in written testimony to the committee.

Bill Persinger, CEO of Valeo Behavioral Health Care in Topeka, estimated installing metal detectors and hiring at least one guard for each of Valeo’s nine facilities would be “cost-prohibitive,” with expenses running to at least half a million dollars.

“There’s no place for a gun in a mental health facility,” he said.

The committee has yet to vote on the bill, which if approved would go to the full Senate.

State Hospital Estimates Lowered

The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services didn’t take a position on SB 235, but KDADS staff said installing metal detectors and hiring guards for the state’s four facilities would cost more than $11 million. A previous estimate put the costs at more than $25 million.

Amy Penrod, director of finance and budget at KDADS, said the department calculated the lower cost based on securing only buildings where patients congregate and allowing a single entrance to those buildings. The estimate would go up if the facilities, which currently use unarmed security staff, have to retrain them to carry guns, she said.

Kimberly Lynch, KDADS chief counsel, said the department has concerns that patients at Osawatomie or Larned state hospital could take a gun from a visitor. Adding guards and metal detectors also could be a problem at Kansas Neurological Institute and Parsons State Hospital and Training Center, which house people with severe developmental disabilities, she said.

“These are their homes. They live there,” she said.

SB 235 is at least the fourth bill introduced this session that relates to the concealed carry law. A bill to permanently exempt only community mental health centers from the concealed carry law has yet to get a hearing, making it unlikely it could advance. A second bill exempting KU Medical Center failed in a committee vote, and a third bill, which would have extended all of the exemptions indefinitely, didn’t come up for a vote.

Meg Wingerter is a reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach her on Twitter @MegWingerter. 

SEDGWICK COUNTY –Law enforcement authorities in Sedgwick County are investigating a drive by shooting into a home.

Just after 5a.m. Friday, a man and woman reported suspects shot at their residence in the2200 Block of North Minneapolis Street in Wichita, according to Sgt. Nikki Woodrow during an online media briefing.

Several bullets struck the home and entered the window of a bedroom where four children ages 7, 3, 2 and 1 were sleeping, according to police.

Authorities are asking the public for help with information in the case.  Police had no suspect or vehicle description early Friday.

There were no injuries reported only damage to the residence.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Police say a Topeka man ordered to stand trial in a deadly Fourth of July crash had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol in his blood.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that a judge found sufficient evidence Thursday for 33-year-old Jason Patterson to stand trial in August on a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol. He also could face an alternative charge of reckless second-degree murder.

He’s accused of hitting 60-year-old Tara French with a pickup truck as she crossed a street after an argument over fireworks that had been shot off near Topeka’s Lake Shawnee. Witnesses testified at the preliminary hearing that fireworks debris had dropped onto people at French’s gathering.

Police say Patterson’s blood alcohol level was 0.18 percent.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A father has been charged with fatally shooting his 17-year-old son during an argument in Wichita.

Glen Farrow, 41, is jailed in Sedgwick County on $150,000 bond. He was charged Wednesday with second-degree intentional murder in the death Sunday of Michael Farrow. Sedgwick County Chief Public Defender Mark Rudy says an attorney hasn’t met with him yet.

Keri Brooks described her son as “loyal” and said that what happened was “incomprehensible.” She said she heard that the argument was about school and that her son was being moved to an alternative program after arguing with a teacher. Police have offered no specifics about the argument.

Brooks recently moved to Florida, and said Michael and two siblings were planning to move there in May.

SEWARD COUNTY  – Officials are working to determine the cause of a large grass fire late Thursday in Seward County.

Just after 5p.m. Seward County Fire Rescue was dispatched area of Road P and Highway 54, according to a media release.

Units were already in the area responding to another fire and were redirected. An immediate need request for mutual aid was transmitted to the Kansas State office of Emergency Management.

Approximately 35 fire units with about 62 firefighters from 9 counties arrived and starting working the fire.

Heavy rain occurred and assisted with extinguishing the fire. Mutual aid companies were released and a majority of them were directed to Perryton Texas to assist with another wildfire.

Seward County has crews continuing to monitor the situation in the river bottom throughout the night and will continue to be on scene throughout the day Friday.

We estimate the fire to have been a mile wide and burned about 4 miles approximately 2,500 acres. Cause is under investigation.

Numerous local farmers assisted with discs as well as Seward County Road and Bridge road graders. Seward County Sheriff’s Office assisted with evacuations. No injuries were reported.

FINNEY COUNTY – Thursday night’s  severe thunderstorm brought rain and strong winds to portions of western Kansas.

Just before 11 p.m., the winds were responsible for a power outage in Garden City. Initial reports indicated the outage was caused by a trampoline blown into the power line. Crews also identified a broken power pole.

Officials restored power overnight.

⚠️ Take Cover! Severe Thunderstorm Warning including Garden City KS, Liberal KS, Ulysses KS until 9:15 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/NW8tDuRA64

— NWS Dodge City (@NWSDodgeCity) March 24, 2017

Strong winds with gusts over 50 miles-per-hour are forecast on Friday, according to the National Weather Service

By JIM MCLEAN

Kansas lawmakers are now a step away from what could be a showdown with Republican Gov. Sam Brownback on the political football issue of Medicaid expansion.

The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee on Thursday advanced an expansion bill to the full Senate for a vote supporters say will take place Monday.

“Hallelujah,” said Sen. Laura Kelly, a Topeka Democrat, immediately after the committee approved the bill on a voice vote with little debate.

“We finally have enough compassionate, considerate, thoughtful legislators to have had this discussion and to pass this bill out of committee,” Kelly said, referring to legislative leaders elected after the recent defeat of several conservative incumbents by moderate Republicans and Democrats.

Sen. Jake LaTurner, a Pittsburg Republican, voted against advancing the bill, insisting that Kansas lawmakers should wait on the outcome of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a GOP bill to replace the Affordable Care Act. Among other things, the federal bill would prohibit states that haven’t already acted from expanding their Medicaid programs.

Since 2013, 31 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid eligibility. Kansas and Missouri are among 19 that have not.

“I think Washington is going the opposite direction,” LaTurner said. “They’re going to the right and we’re going to the left it seems. This is an enormous entitlement. We’re writing checks that we can’t cash.”

Several members of the committee disagreed, including Kelly.

“We don’t know what the end result in D.C. is going to be,” she said. “So, I think we’re better to play offense here and get Medicaid expanded in the state and then deal with whatever comes down from D.C.”

David Jordan, the director of a pro-expansion coalition that includes several health provider organizations, said pressing ahead with the bill isn’t an exercise in futility.

“I think this is an act of leadership,” Jordan said. “This is Kansas legislators taking steps to protect the interests of Kansans.”

Expanding eligibility for KanCare, the state’s privatized Medicaid program, would provide health insurance to an additional 150,000 to 180,000 low-income adults.

Currently, KanCare eligibility is limited to children, pregnant women, people with disabilities and seniors in need of long-term care who have exhausted their financial resources. Parents are eligible only if they earn less than a third of the federal poverty level, or about $9,200 annually for a four-person family.

Single adults without children currently are not eligible no matter their income. Expansion would extend eligibility to all Kansans who earn up to 138 percent of the poverty level, or $16,642 annually for an individual and $33,465 for a family of four.

How much expansion will cost the state depends on changes made to the federal health reform law, which currently obligates the federal government to cover no less than 90 percent of the cost of expansion. Under that formula, expansion would cost the state an additional $67.2 million in its first full year, according to state officials.

However, expansion supporters point to estimates compiled by the Kansas Hospital Association that show revenue and budget savings generated by expansion would more than cover the state’s share of the cost.

The House passed the expansion bill 81-44 in late February. If the Senate approves it without changes, it would go to Brownback, who while opposed to expansion has stopped short of saying that he would veto the bill.

Jim McLean is managing director of the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of  kcur.org, Kansas Public Radio and KMUW covering health, education and politics in Kansas. You can reach him on Twitter @jmcleanks. 

HARVEY COUNTY— A Harvey County judge decided Thursday to seal the probable cause affidavit in the murder case against two people on three counts of first-degree murder.

Defendants Jereme Nelson, 35, and Myrta Rangel, 31, are charged with three counts each of capital murder and first-degree murder in the October deaths of 33-year-old Travis Street, 37-year-old Angela May Graevs and 52-year-old Richard Prouty.

The victims’ bodies were found in October outside a rural home near Moundridge. An 18-month-old child was found unharmed.

Judge Joe Dickinson ruled that releasing the affidavit could jeopardize the physical, mental or emotional safety or well-being of the victims and witnesses. Dickinson also said that releasing the information could interfere with prospective law enforcement action, criminal investigation or prosecution.

Harvey County Attorney David Yoder is seeking the death penalty in the case.

A preliminary hearing for Rangel is scheduled for Thursday, April 6.

HARPER COUNTY -A Kansas boy was injured in an accident just before 3:30p.m. on Thursday in Harper County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 1998 Dodge Ram pickup driven by Geraldine
Mazanec, 64, Marienthal, was eastbound on southwest 40th Road just west of 120th

A boy fell out of the bed of the truck as the driver was slowing down for a railroad crossing.

Harper EMS transported Wyatt Mazanec, 7, Marienthal, to Harper Hospital.

The driver was properly restrained at the time of the accident and not injured, according to the KHP.

LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — A 50-year-old woman accused of killing her estranged husband in Leavenworth, Kansas, has been found mentally unfit to stand trial.

The Leavenworth Times reports that a Leavenworth County judge on Wednesday made that ruling after Barbara Frantz of Kansas City, Kansas, underwent mental competency testing.

She’ll be sent to the Larned State Security Hospital for treatment, and her proceedings will be suspended until a judge concludes her mental fitness for trial has been restored.

Frantz is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 54-year-old Gary Frantz.

Leavenworth police say Gary Frantz was shot several times Jan. 27 on a Leavenworth parking lot. Barbara Frantz was arrested hours later in Burlingame, Kansas.

Police have said the case involved domestic violence but did not offer further details.