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Kansas Statutes Annotated

K.S.A. § 21-6603 (2026)

Definitions

✓ current as of May 2026
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21-6603. Definitions. As used in K.S.A. 21-6601 through 21-6616, 21-6702 through 21-6712, and 21-6801 through 21-6805, and amendments thereto:

(a) "Court" means any court having jurisdiction and power to sentence offenders for violations of the laws of this state;

(b) "community correctional services program" means a program which operates under the community corrections act and to which a defendant is assigned for supervision, confinement, detention, care or treatment, subject to conditions imposed by the court. A defendant assigned to a community correctional services program shall be subject to the continuing jurisdiction of the court and in no event shall be considered to be in the custody of or under the supervision of the secretary of corrections;

(c) "correctional institution" means any correctional institution established by the state for the confinement of offenders, and under control of the secretary of corrections;

(d) "house arrest" is an individualized program in which the freedom of an inmate is restricted within the community, home or noninstitutional residential placement and specific sanctions are imposed and enforced. "House arrest" may include:

(1) Electronic monitoring which requires a transmitter to be worn by the defendant or inmate which broadcasts an encoded signal to the receiver located in the defendant's or inmate's home. The receiver is connected to a central office computer and is notified of any absence of the defendant or inmate; or

(2) voice identification-encoder which consists of an encoder worn by the defendant or inmate. A computer is programmed to randomly call the defendant or inmate and such defendant or inmate is required to provide voice identification and then insert the encoder into the verifier box, confirming identity;

(e) "parole" means the release of a prisoner to the community by the prisoner review board prior to the expiration of such prisoner's term, subject to conditions imposed by the board and to the secretary of correction's supervision. Parole also means the release by a court of competent jurisdiction of a person confined in the county jail or other local place of detention after conviction and prior to expiration of such person's term, subject to conditions imposed by the court and its supervision. Where a court or other authority has filed a warrant against the prisoner, the prisoner review board or paroling court may release the prisoner on parole to answer the warrant of such court or authority;

(f) "postrelease supervision," for crimes committed on or after July 1, 1993, means the same as in K.S.A. 21-6803, and amendments thereto;

(g) "probation" means a procedure under which a defendant, convicted of a crime, is released by the court after imposition of sentence, without imprisonment except as provided in felony cases, subject to conditions imposed by the court and subject to the supervision of the probation service of the court or community corrections. In felony cases, the court may include confinement in a county jail not to exceed 60 days, which need not be served consecutively, as a condition of an original probation sentence and up to 60 days in a county jail upon each revocation of the probation sentence pursuant to subsection (b)(3) of K.S.A. 21-6702, and amendments thereto; and

(h) "suspension of sentence" means a procedure under which a defendant, convicted of a crime, is released by the court without imposition of sentence. The release may be with or without supervision in the discretion of the court. In felony cases, the court may include confinement in a county jail not to exceed 60 days, which need not be served consecutively, as a condition of suspension of sentence pursuant to subsection (b)(4) of K.S.A. 21-6702, and amendments thereto.

History: L. 2010, ch. 136, § 243; L. 2011, ch. 30, § 63; L. 2012, ch. 16, § 3; July 1.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases (5 in the last 5 years), 2017–2026 · leading case: State v. Baker, 429 P.3d 240 (Kan. Ct. App. 2018).
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State v. Baker, 429 P.3d 240 (Kan. Ct. App. 2018). “" K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 21-6603(g). In turn, "[w]henever any person has been found guilty of a crime, the court may .”
State v. Wilson, 552 P.3d 1228 (Kan. 2024). “Courts may look to the context in which the Legislature used the language and the broader context of the entire statute to discern legislative intent. In this way, the doctrine 'can provide substance and meaning to a court's plain language interpretation of a statute.”
State v. Kinder (Kan. 2018). · cites it 3× “" Somewhat similarly, subsection (e) of K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6603, when defining "parole" in the context of confinement in the county jail, provides such parole cannot be imposed after the term of confinement has ended: "Parole also means the release by a court of competent…”
State v. Castillo (Kan. Ct. App. 2017). · cites it 2× “The issue before us does not concern the district court's authority to set conditions on a DUI offender's release, but instead concerns its authority to revoke a DUI offender's supervision after that offender has violated whatever conditions have been imposed by the court.”
United States v. Wheaton, 337 F. Supp. 3d 1107 (D. Kan. 2018). · cites it 2× “" K.S.A. § 21-6603(g) (emphasis added). The Kansas Supreme Court has found that a person on probation is not serving a sentence and that "probation is separate and distinct from the sentence.”
State v. Busby (Kan. Ct. App. 2022). “A district court has the authority under K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 21-6608(b) to parole a defendant from a sentence of confinement in a county jail for a misdemeanor conviction.”
State v. Spencer, 428 P.3d 822 (Kan. Ct. App. 2018). “" These parts of the journal entry are inconsistent with K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 21-6603(h), which defines "suspension of sentence" as "a procedure under which a defendant, convicted of a crime, is released by the court without imposition of sentence .”
State v. Romero (Kan. Ct. App. 2024). “" K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21-6603(g). While probation is not inherently inconsistent if imposed consecutive to an incarceration term in an unrelated case, this court is reluctant to say that concurrent probation and incarceration—even in unrelated cases— are compatible.”
State v. Whitmarsh (Kan. Ct. App. 2024). “But defendants may be placed on probation only after a district court has otherwise sentenced them.”
State v. Gentry (Kan. Ct. App. 2026). “Again, the district court advised Gentry he would begin serving 5 his probation immediately upon completion of the "process[ing]" that would follow his initial sentencing hearing. That assertion, however, runs directly contrary to governing statutes and caselaw.”
— K.S.A. § 21-6603(b) — 1 case
State v. Castillo (Kan. Ct. App. 2017). “The issue before us does not concern the district court's authority to set conditions on a DUI offender's release, but instead concerns its authority to revoke a DUI offender's supervision after that offender has violated whatever conditions have been imposed by the court.”
— K.S.A. § 21-6603(e) — 1 case
State v. Busby (Kan. Ct. App. 2022). “A district court has the authority under K.S.A. 2020 Supp. 21-6608(b) to parole a defendant from a sentence of confinement in a county jail for a misdemeanor conviction.”
— K.S.A. § 21-6603(g) — 6 cases
State v. Baker, 429 P.3d 240 (Kan. Ct. App. 2018). “" K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 21-6603(g). In turn, "[w]henever any person has been found guilty of a crime, the court may .”
State v. Kinder (Kan. 2018). “" Somewhat similarly, subsection (e) of K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 21-6603, when defining "parole" in the context of confinement in the county jail, provides such parole cannot be imposed after the term of confinement has ended: "Parole also means the release by a court of competent…”
United States v. Wheaton, 337 F. Supp. 3d 1107 (D. Kan. 2018). “" K.S.A. § 21-6603(g) (emphasis added). The Kansas Supreme Court has found that a person on probation is not serving a sentence and that "probation is separate and distinct from the sentence.”
State v. Romero (Kan. Ct. App. 2024). “" K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21-6603(g). While probation is not inherently inconsistent if imposed consecutive to an incarceration term in an unrelated case, this court is reluctant to say that concurrent probation and incarceration—even in unrelated cases— are compatible.”
State v. Whitmarsh (Kan. Ct. App. 2024). “But defendants may be placed on probation only after a district court has otherwise sentenced them.”
— K.S.A. § 21-6603(h) — 1 case
State v. Spencer, 428 P.3d 822 (Kan. Ct. App. 2018). “" These parts of the journal entry are inconsistent with K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 21-6603(h), which defines "suspension of sentence" as "a procedure under which a defendant, convicted of a crime, is released by the court without imposition of sentence .”
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