TOPEKA — Jordan Chessher senses an urgency surrounding an effort to increase the criminal penalties in Kansas for child endangerment.
Fatal and near-fatal cases involving children across Kansas have stuck with him “because warning signs were missed, oversight failed or the law lacked the strength to intervene early and decisively,” he wrote in a Dec. 20 open letter to news outlets.
A bill filed in the Kansas House ahead of the 2026 legislative session may address his concerns. House Bill 2412 seeks to increase penalties for people convicted of child endangerment or aggravated child endangerment if their crimes involve children younger than 6 years old.
Chessher is the cofounder of Project Heaven, a Wichita-based grassroots group advocating for legislative changes to prevent child abuse. He said the bill, if passed into law, could save children’s lives.
“This legislation is not about punishment alone — it is about deterrence, accountability, and prevention,” he said.
Child endangerment applies when a person “knowingly and unreasonably” allows a child younger than 18 years old “to be placed in a situation in which the child’s life, body or health may be endangered,” according to state law. Aggravated child endangerment applies to the same situation but when a person recklessly causes or allows a child to potentially be placed in danger.
Typically, those situations involve drug manufacturing or use.
For children younger than 6 years old, the bill proposes upping child endangerment from a misdemeanor to a felony.
Sara Hortenstine, executive director of the Kansas State Child Death Review Board, said the board consistently has found that infants and young children are at heightened risk for serious injury and death.
That’s often because of their developmental stage, physical dependency on their caregivers, and a limited ability to seek help and protect themselves, she said.
“Recognizing this vulnerability helps ensure accountability is proportionate to the level of risk and dependency involved and supports enhanced safeguards for very young children,” Hortenstine said.
The review board sits within the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and acts as a citizen panel responsible for gauging whether state and local agencies are adequately protecting children by reviewing every child death in the state. The results of the board’s evaluation are published in an annual report.
The board’s most recent report examined deaths that occurred in 2023. Of the 361 children who died in Kansas in 2023, a toxicology screening was performed for 180 of them. There were 24 detections of marijuana, 16 of fentanyl and nine of alcohol, according to the report.
Nearly half of the 221 sleep-related sudden, unexpected infant deaths in Kansas between 2019 and 2023 involved a parent or caregiver with a history of substance use. In 12 instances, a caregiver was under the influence at the time of a child’s sleep-related death, the report said.
In more than half of all child deaths during that time period, a parent or caregiver had prior or current involvement with child protective services, according to the report.
The board outlines each year a series of public policy recommendations to improve child death investigations, enhance data collection and prevent future child deaths. Many have reappeared year after year. Modifying child endangerment statutes was not one of the recommendations featured in the 2025 report, but Hortenstine said the bill enhances legal protections for young children.
Rep. Ken Collins, a Republican and convenience store owner in Mulberry, filed the bill on Dec. 10.
In 2024, a high-profile, unlicensed day care incident led to permanent medical conditions for then-4-month-old Benny Cannon in Pittsburg, near Collins’ district.
Two day care attendants who left Cannon alone in a bouncer were sentenced earlier this year. One pleaded guilty to aggravated battery, two counts of child endangerment, aggravated child endangerment, marijuana possession and drug paraphernalia possession, according to court records. She served 60 days in jail and was given 18 months of probation along with mandatory substance use treatment and restitution payment requirement. The other pleaded guilty to three counts of child endangerment, served 30 days in jail, was given 18 months of probation and must pay restitution.
This story was originally published by the Kansas Reflector.
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