Under Kansas law, those with a drug conviction are required to register on the same public list as more than 10,000 convicted sex offenders. As of March 1, 2021, the Kansas Public Offender Registry contained the names and addresses of 5,777 drug offenders.

The Kansas law on drug offender registration has changed. The bill is designed to cut the time to get back in front of a judge and prove that you’ve turned your life around, so you’re not branded a criminal forever.

As of May, 2022, drug offenders no longer have to wait 15 years to be removed from the registry.

Drug offenders can now file a petition to be taken off the registry if they have been registered by a court order for five years, if they meet certain conditions like not getting arrested.

The filing cost for this is $196 but could be lower if the offender is low income. The filing also lets an offender combine a petition for relief from the registration requirements with a petition for expungement of their criminal record. 

The offender must show by clear evidence that:

• The offender has not been convicted of a felony (other than a felony registration violation) within the five years immediately preceding the filing of the petition, and
• No proceedings involving a felony are now pending or being instituted against the offender;
• The offender’s circumstances, behavior and treatment history demonstrate that the offender is rehabilitated; and
• Registration of the offender is no longer necessary to promote public safety.

You can find forms to be completed by a self-represented person here: https://www.kansasjudicialcouncil.org/legal-forms/expungement-adult-drug-offender-registration-relief/drug-offender-registration-relief

It is possible to also seek expungement using these forms:  https://www.kansasjudicialcouncil.org/legal-forms/expungement-adult/conviction-or-diversion

Doing this with two separate petitions will require the payment of two ($196) filing fees. In some cases the fees may be waived or reduced. 

We are working on a set of forms that combines these two requests into one document and would reduce the payment of filing fees to only one $196 fee.  However, we want to make the forms available as quickly as possible, so they can be used. 

Check back on July 10 for the combined forms.