Kansas Appleseed Research

Across the nation, more people are booked into jail for missing a court date than for any other single reason. Kansas has the 21st highest incarceration rate nationally, exceeding that of most countries worldwide. This is an especially troubling reality given the already significant strain on the state’s justice system. Yet, there is a straightforward solution gaining traction across the United States, one that most people already encounter in everyday life: appointment reminders.

Read our 2026 research: Doctors, Dentists, Hairdressers, and Court Systems: Implementing Court Text Reminders to Address Failure-to-Appear

In 2021, the League of Women Voters of Kansas, Loud Light, Kansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, and the Topeka Independent Living Resource Center filed a lawsuit seeking to force the State to fix flawed voting laws that had been recently passed by the Kansas legislature. One of the most flawed of those laws tightened signature-matching requirements. As the law currently stands, the signature on a person’s mail-in ballot must “match” their signature from when they registered to vote. But the law does not define what “match” means, detail how to decide if signatures match, or explain how voters can fix a mismatch. As a result, each of the 105 counties can interpret and apply the law differently. So, whether your vote is counted depends on what county you live in.

Read our 2026 report: Senate Bill 394 Impact Research

This 2026 report traces the evidence-based history of the reforms and their impact, and the current state of SB367. SB 367 was a huge step forward in improving the youth justice system in Kansas by shifting towards community-based alternatives. Prior to the 2016 reforms, Kansas had one of the highest youth detention rates in the country, and youth languished in detention centers under a punitive and ineffective system, creating terrible rates of recidivism and reincarceration. Since then, there have been numerous attempts to challenge the statute, despite the reforms’ success.

Read here: An Unfinished Story: Kansas Youth Justice Reform 10 Years After Senate Bill 367. 

Recent federal changes enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (HR 1) significantly weaken SNAP and will have far-reaching consequences for Kansas. This report highlights how these changes reduce benefit levels, tighten eligibility rules, expand work requirements, eliminate nutrition education funding, and shift new administrative and benefit costs onto states.

Read our 2026 report: What the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Really Means for Kansas: More Hunger, Less Stability

Prior to our 2024 settlement, the WPD gang database had over 5,500 people on it; on May 1, 2025, the list had only 151 individuals. Before these changes, WPD’s Gang Unit had unilateral and virtually unchecked power to designate Wichita residents as “gang members” or “gang associates” without reliable evidence. This report highlights the history of the gang database, litigation, and what the settlement accomplished.

Read our 2025 report here: One Year Later– Wichita’s Unconstitutional Gang Database.

This report illustrates how, despite Kansans’ right to vote without obstruction, vulnerable populations continue to face an increasing number of voter suppression laws in addition to daily economic barriers that affect their democratic right to exercise political power fully.

Read our 2025 report here: Representation and Wellbeing at the Polls: Racism, Health & Civic Participation

Senator Bob Dole worked his whole career to fight hunger in the US and worldwide. But today, Kansas has one of the lowest SNAP participation rates in the nation. Rather than addressing food insecurity, nationally and locally, lawmakers have implemented hurdles that strip hardworking Kansans of essential support. This report traces the proud anti-hunger legacy of Kansas, debunks damaging myths about SNAP food assistance, and lays out the clear economic and health benefits of SNAP when it’s able to work at its best.

Read our 2025 report to learn more: SNAP in Kansas: A Legacy Under Attack.

Juvenile Law Center and Kansas Appleseed released a joint report on the ineffective practice of assessing fines and fees to juveniles in Kansas. The Kansas juvenile justice system is meant to promote community safety and help rehabilitate youth. The research is clear: fees and fines do not benefit Kansas youth and families. Kansas should join the many states – red and blue – recognizing that juvenile system fees and fines are counterproductive and eliminating them from juvenile codes.

Read our 2024 joint report to learn more: Making Children Pay: The Hidden Cost to Kansas of Juvenile Fines and Fees.

Kansas committed to a rehabilitative youth justice system in 2016, yet continues the indiscriminate use of shackles on children appearing in courtrooms. This practice leads to retraumatization and shame and increases recidivism of youth involved in the justice system. It is past time we end this harmful practice and ensure the safety and rights of vulnerable children.

Read our 2024 research here: A Sentence Before Trial: The Practice of Indiscriminate Use of Shackles on Kansas Children and its Harm.

This report, released in October 2023, highlights the burden of meal debt and its impact on Kansas families and schoolchildren after universal free meals ended in Kansas.

Read here: One Year After the End of Universal School Meals

In the breadbasket of America, no child should go hungry. To learn more about how Kansas can achieve this goal, read our 2023 report, A Pathway to Universal Free Meals for All Kansas Children: The State of School Meals in Kansas.

Southeast Kansans are stepping up to increase food access, but soup kitchens and food pantries aren’t enough. Policy change is needed and voting is one way the people of SEK can use their power for increased food access in their communities. Read more here.

Intentional disenfranchisement of voters makes it harder for Kansans to impact and advocate for the policies that shape our health, schools, homes, and neighborhoods. Read more here. 

A policy update on progress made to advance legislation on ending driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees during the 2021 Legislative Session. Read more here.

This report discusses how COVID-19 impacted Kansans’ access to what we need to survive, ways communities and programs stepped up to fill the gaps, and opportunities to help Kansans not only recover from the pandemic but thrive. Read our 2021 report here. 

Research has shown that girls of color are disproportionately implicated in the school-to-prison pipeline. The data presented in this report examines these disparities through case studies of three states: Alabama, Kansas, and Massachusetts. Read more here.