The Kansas felony sentencing grid decides a felony sentence by lining up two things: how serious the crime is and how extensive the defendant’s prior record is. Where those two values meet on the grid is a box with a range of months and an instruction about whether the sentence should be served in prison or on probation. Kansas uses one grid for non-drug felonies and a separate one for drug felonies, and a small group of the most serious crimes bypass the grids entirely and carry mandatory life sentences.
The Two Axes of the Grid
The vertical axis is the crime’s severity level. Non-drug felonies run from severity level 1 (most serious) to level 10 (least serious).1Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-6807 – Crime Severity Scale for Nondrug Crimes Second-degree murder and the most serious sexual assaults sit at level 1; aggravated battery lands around level 5; low-level thefts and property damage occupy level 10. The level is fixed by statute, not chosen by the judge.
Drug felonies use their own five-level scale, with level 1 covering large-scale manufacturing or distribution and level 5 covering lower-level possession.2Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-6808 – Crime Severity Scale for Drug Crimes The two grids are not interchangeable. A first-time offender at drug level 1 faces roughly 146 to 154 months; a first-time offender at drug level 5 faces about 10 to 12 months.3Sedgwick County. Kansas Sentencing Guidelines
The horizontal axis is criminal history, expressed as a letter from A (worst) through I (cleanest).4Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6809 – Criminal History Categories Category A applies when the record includes three or more prior person felonies. Category I applies when the defendant has no criminal history or at most one misdemeanor. The categories in between reflect various mixes of person felonies, nonperson felonies, and misdemeanors.
The biggest single driver in history scoring is the person versus nonperson distinction. Person felonies involve direct harm or threat to another person: assault, robbery, residential burglary. Nonperson felonies cover property theft, drug offenses, and burglary of unoccupied structures.5Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6811 – Classification of Prior Convictions One prior person felony can move a score much further toward A than several nonperson felonies do. Drug convictions, whatever their severity, count as nonperson for scoring purposes.
Reading a Grid Box
Each grid box holds three numbers separated by slashes. The middle number is the standard presumptive sentence. The higher is the aggravated term and the lower is the mitigated term.6Justia. Kansas Code 21-6804 – Sentencing Grid for Nondrug Crimes A judge can pick any of the three without filing a departure motion. The standard number is meant for typical cases; the outer numbers absorb minor aggravating or mitigating details that don’t rise to the level of a formal departure.
Criminal history moves the range dramatically. A non-drug level 1 offense in Category A carries a presumptive range of 592 to 653 months. The same level 1 offense in Category I drops to 147 to 165 months.3Sedgwick County. Kansas Sentencing Guidelines For the same crime, history alone can multiply the sentence several times over.
Prison or Probation
The grid also decides where the sentence gets served. A thick dispositional line runs through both grids. Boxes above it carry a presumption of imprisonment. Boxes below carry a presumption of nonimprisonment, meaning probation or community supervision.8Justia. Kansas Code 21-6804 – Sentencing Grid for Nondrug Crimes
A handful of boxes sit right at the boundary. On the non-drug grid, blocks 5-H, 5-I, and 6-G are optional nonprison blocks, and the drug grid has its own optional blocks at 4-E through 4-I, 5-C, and 5-D.7Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6805 – Sentencing Grid for Drug Crimes In these blocks the judge can choose between prison and probation without a departure. Cases in this territory turn heavily on facts and on the individual judge.
When the grid calls for probation, the length depends on severity. Non-drug severity levels 1 through 5 recommend 36 months of probation; levels 6 and 7 recommend 24 months; level 8, 18 months; levels 9 and 10, 12 months.9Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6608 – Duration of Probation Drug offenses follow the same shape, with levels 1 through 3 at 36 months and level 5 at 12 months. Total probation cannot exceed 60 months, or the maximum prison term that could have been imposed, whichever is longer.
When a Judge Can Depart from the Grid
The presumption is strong but not absolute. A judge can go above or below the grid on “substantial and compelling reasons” stated on the record at sentencing.10Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6815 – Sentencing Departures General appeals to fairness or personal circumstances do not clear that bar. The reasons must be specific and tied to the facts.
Kansas statute names several factors that can support a downward departure: the victim was an aggressor or participant in the crime; the defendant played a minor role or acted under duress; a physical or mental impairment limited judgment; the defendant was responding to a pattern of abuse by the victim; the harm was significantly less than the offense typically produces; or the defendant suffered a combat-related injury such as PTSD or traumatic brain injury that contributed to the crime.10Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6815 – Sentencing Departures
Upward departures use the same threshold, with one constitutional wrinkle: any fact that would push the sentence above the statutory maximum, other than a prior conviction, must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt.10Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6815 – Sentencing Departures Aggravators include a particularly vulnerable victim, unusually cruel or degrading conduct, and significant disruption of a governmental function. Prosecutors can also seek a departure by showing that the defendant provided substantial assistance in investigating or prosecuting other offenders.
Crimes That Skip the Grid
A few offenses are so serious that the grid never applies. These off-grid felonies carry mandatory life sentences with minimum terms set directly by statute.
- Premeditated first-degree murder committed on or after July 1, 2014, carries a life sentence with no parole eligibility for 50 years (Hard 50). A judge can reduce this to Hard 25 after considering mitigating circumstances.11Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-6620 – Sentencing of Certain Persons to Mandatory Minimum Term of Imprisonment
- Felony murder and attempted capital murder carry a life sentence with a 25-year minimum before parole eligibility (Hard 25).11Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-6620 – Sentencing of Certain Persons to Mandatory Minimum Term of Imprisonment
- Capital murder remains a distinct offense and can carry the death penalty or life without parole. Kansas has not carried out an execution since 1965, but the statutory framework remains in place.12Kansas State Legislature. Kansas Code 21-6622 – Sentencing for Capital Murder
The mandatory minimum has a one-way safety valve. If the defendant’s criminal history is heavy enough that the standard grid would have produced a sentence over 300 months for a Hard 25 crime, or over 600 months for a Hard 50 crime, the longer grid-based figure controls. The worst records can push mandatory minimums upward, but not downward.
What the Announced Sentence Actually Means
The number the judge reads at sentencing is not the same as time actually spent behind bars. Kansas allows inmates to earn good time credit against the prison portion of the sentence. For most felonies committed on or after July 1, 1993, the credit is 15% of the prison portion.13Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6821 – Good Time Credits Lower-severity offenses earn at a higher rate. Non-drug severity levels 7 through 10 and drug severity levels 3 through 5, committed on or after the applicable effective dates, qualify for a 20% credit.
Inmates can also earn up to 120 days of additional credit for completing approved programs.13Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 21-6821 – Good Time Credits With maximum good time and program credit, a 60-month sentence on a severity 8 non-drug felony can come down to roughly 44 months of actual prison. Credits are earned rather than automatic and can be lost for disciplinary infractions.
Post-Release Supervision
Kansas no longer uses traditional parole for crimes committed on or after July 1, 1993. Once the prison portion ends, a mandatory period of post-release supervision begins. The length tracks the severity of the underlying conviction:14Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 22-3717 – Post-Release Supervision
- 36 months for non-drug levels 1 through 4 and drug levels 1 through 3.
- 24 months for non-drug levels 5 and 6 and drug level 4.
- 12 months for non-drug levels 7 through 10 and drug level 5.
Post-release supervision is not optional, and violating its conditions can send a person back to prison to serve time remaining on the original sentence. For sexually violent crimes committed on or after July 1, 2006, by a defendant who was 18 or older, post-release supervision lasts for life.14Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 22-3717 – Post-Release Supervision
Restitution
Kansas courts are required to order restitution to compensate victims for the damage or loss the crime caused.15FindLaw. Kansas Code 21-6604 – Sentencing; Authorized Dispositions The statute uses mandatory language. The amount becomes a judgment collectible through wage garnishment and other means, and it survives the end of prison or probation. Restitution is due immediately unless the court sets a payment plan or finds the obligation unworkable.
Enhancements That Override the Grid
Certain repeat offenders face sentencing rules that displace the normal grid outcome.
Persistent Sex Offenders
A conviction for a sexually violent crime combined with at least one prior conviction for a sexually violent crime classifies the defendant as a persistent sex offender. The sentence doubles. If the grid box would have called for prison, the maximum presumptive sentence is doubled. If the grid box would have called for probation, the presumption flips to imprisonment, and the doubled maximum applies.6Justia. Kansas Code 21-6804 – Sentencing Grid for Nondrug Crimes The doubling does not apply to crimes already at severity level 1 or 2.
Repeat Property Offenders
Kansas also imposes presumptive imprisonment on certain repeat property offenders regardless of where they would otherwise fall on the grid. A felony theft conviction with three or more prior felony convictions for theft or burglary triggers presumptive prison. A burglary conviction with two or more prior theft or burglary felonies does the same.6Justia. Kansas Code 21-6804 – Sentencing Grid for Nondrug Crimes These enhanced sentences are not treated as departures and cannot be appealed on departure grounds.