TOPEKA — Opponents fell one vote short of repealing the death penalty Friday. Because of a 20-20 tie vote, the motion to repeal the death penalty failed. State Sen. Tim Owens, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told Kansas Information Network he supported the repeal but that’s how the vote turned out. Sen. Ty Masterson of Andover told KIN the state needs to keep the death penalty as a form of appropriate justice. The state reinstated the death penalty in 1994 but hasn’t executed anyone since 1965. There are 10 people on the state’s death row.
