§ 21-5207 — Ignorance or mistake

(a) A person's ignorance or mistake as to a matter of either fact or law, except as provided in K.S.A. 21-5204, and amendments thereto, is a defense if it negates the existence of the culpable mental state which the statute prescribes with respect to an element of the crime.
(b) A person's reasonable belief that such person's conduct does not constitute a crime is a defense if:
(1) The crime is defined by an administrative regulation or order which is not known to such person and has not been published in the Kansas administrative regulations or an annual supplement thereto, as provided by law; and such person could not have acquired such knowledge by the exercise of due diligence pursuant to facts known to such person;
(2) such person acts in reliance upon a statute which later is determined to be invalid;
(3) such person acts in reliance upon an order or opinion of the supreme court of Kansas or a United States appellate court later overruled or reversed; or
(4) such person acts in reliance upon an official interpretation of the statute, regulation or order defining the crime made by a public officer or agency legally authorized to interpret such statute.
(c) Although a person's ignorance or mistake of fact or law, or reasonable belief, as described in subsection (b), is a defense to the crime charged, such person may be convicted of an included crime of which such person would be guilty if the fact or law were as such person believed it to be.

Legislative History

L. 2010, ch. 136, § 18; July 1, 2011.