Franklin County Sheriff, Jeff Richards testified in front of the Committee on Corrections and Juvenile Justice concerning human smuggling. Right now, Kansas has no specific law regarding human smuggling. He described two incidents in Franklin County in the past year involving the topic, including the incident in June that ended at Loves, in which a woman had at least five other people in her car, moving them from the southern border to another location in Kansas. Charges against those five were never pursued, however, the woman driver was convicted of various crimes:
Franklin County Attorney Brandon Jones provided written testimony in support of House Bill 23-50 which was introduced by 59th District Representative, Rebecca Schmoe and District 5 Representative, Carrie Barth, would make human smuggling a severity Level 5 Felony and Aggravated Smuggling a Level 3 Felony.
Human smuggling is defined as: transporting, harboring or concealing an individual into or within Kansas who the person knows, or should have known, is entering into or remaining in the United States illegally.
