Brull v. State

69 P.3d 201, 31 Kan. App. 2d 584, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 399
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedMay 9, 2003
DocketNo. 89,812
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 69 P.3d 201 (Brull v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brull v. State, 69 P.3d 201, 31 Kan. App. 2d 584, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 399 (kanctapp 2003).

Opinion

Rulon, C.J.:

Petitioner Mark D. Brull appeals the summary denial of his habeas corpus action, claiming the district court erred when finding his petition was untimely and in the alternative that petitioner’s substantive claims were without merit. We affirm in part and reverse in part.

A detailed discussion of the underlying facts is not required for us to resolve the issues presented.

Jurisdiction

First, we must determine if the district court erred when finding petitioner’s action was untimely filed.

“(b) Except as provided in K.S.A. 60-1507, and amendments thereto, an inmate in the custody of the secretary of corrections shall file a petition for writ pursuant to subsection (a) within 30 days from the date the action was final, but such time is extended during the pendency of the inmate’s timely attempts to exhaust such inmate’s administrative remedies.” K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 60-1501.

Simply said, as the record in this case is devoid of any information concerning the date upon which the petitioner delivered his petition to prison authorities, the district court improperly dismissed the petition for being untimely. See Holt v. Saiya, 28 Kan. App. 2d 356, 361, 17 P.3d 368 (2000).

Interestingly, the petitioner provided his own certification for his habeas corpus petition, alleging that he has been harassed when he attempts to use prison authorities to notarize his documents. Whether these allegations are true or not does not affect the duty of the district court to attempt to ascertain the date the petition [586]*586was delivered by the inmate to prison authorities for mailing, according to Holt.

Consequently, the district court improperly dismissed this petition as an untimely filing.

Mootness

The respondent, the Department of Corrections (DOC), contends the timeliness of the petition is unimportant because the issues raised by the petitioner are moot, as petitioner is no longer in the custody of tire DOC.

Unquestionably, this court is without the authority to render advisory opinions for abstract questions of law not involving an actual controversy, where the judgment of the court would be without effect. See In re T.D., 27 Kan. App. 2d 331, 333, 3 P.3d 598, rev. denied 269 Kan. 933 (2000). However, an issue is not moot where an issue of statewide importance has been raised which is capable of repetition, yet evading review. See 27 Kan. App. 2d at 334.

Here, the petitioner alleges the Kansas Parole Board cannot constitutionally revoke his parole while he is incarcerated under a court order for civil confinement. While this issue is of doubtful statewide importance, it is capable of repetition, not only with other individuals who have been placed within civil confinement but also with the petitioner. As far as this record demonstrates, the petitioner is still subject to postrelease supervision and, therefore, may be returned to prison under die same procedure he is contending violated his consdtutional rights.

Because the sanction for a technical violation of the petitioner’s conditions of release would be a return to prison for 90 days, any future violation and imposition of a sanction would again be stale before the appeals process would enable this court to hear the merits of the petitioner’s case. Consequently, if this court would decide the matter only while the petitioner is within the custody of the DOC, subsequent revocations would continue to evade review.

This court may properly consider the petitioner’s claims.

[587]*587Separation of Powers

Turning to the petitioner s substantive claims, this court must consider whether the procedure that returned him to the custody of the DOC violated the constitutional principles of due process and separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches.

K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 59-29a07(a) establishes the procedure for civil commitment as a sexually violent predator. The statute anticipates the exact circumstance presented before this court.

“If any person while committed to the custody of the secretary pursuant to this act shall be taken into custody by any law enforcement officer as defined in K.S.A. 21-3110 and amendments thereto pursuant to any parole revocation proceeding or any arrest or conviction for a criminal offense of any nature, upon the person’s release from the custody of any law enforcement officer, the person shall be returned to the custody of the secretary for further treatment pursuant to this act.” K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 59-29a07(a).

In the context of a parole revocation, due process demands only minimal safeguards; the full panoply of rights afforded a criminal defendant is not required in the revocation of parole. However, due process does require the State to provide an individual with written notice of the claimed violation, to disclose to the individual the evidence of the parole violation, to provide the individual with an opportunity to be heard and to present evidence to counter the alleged violation, to allow the individual to confront any adverse witnesses, to have the allegation of the parole violation adjudicated by a neutral and detached hearing body such as a parole board, and to provide the individual with a written statement by the fact-finders regarding the evidence relied upon and the reasons for revoking parole. See Brown v. Kansas Parole Board, 262 Kan. 903, 909, 943 P.2d 1240 (1997) (citing Gagnon v. Scarpelli, 411 U.S. 778, 786, 36 L. Ed. 2d 656, 93 S. Ct. 1756 [1973]).

Although all of these protections were afforded the petitioner in this case, he contends the statutory scheme provided by K.S.A. 2001 Supp. 59-29a07 violates the principle of separation of powers between the executive and the judicial branches of government by extending to an administrative agency the judicial function of adjudicating guilt.

[588]*588Under the Kansas Constitution, like the United States Constitution, there is no specific provision pertaining to the separation of government powers, but such a doctrine has been implied in the creation of three separate branches of government. See State v. Beard, 274 Kan. 181, 185, 49 P.3d 492 (2002) (citing State ex rel. Stephan v. Kansas House of Representatives, 236 Kan. 45, 59, 687 P.2d 622 [1984]).

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Brull v. Howard, Secretary of KDADS
Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2025
Stotts v. State
430 P.3d 491 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2018)
State v. Cluck
228 P.3d 1074 (Court of Appeals of Kansas, 2010)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
69 P.3d 201, 31 Kan. App. 2d 584, 2003 Kan. App. LEXIS 399, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brull-v-state-kanctapp-2003.