What is the law on Criminal Damage to Property in Shawnee Municipal Court?
The City of Shawnee is one of the many cities that have adopted the Uniform Public Offense Code for Kansas cities, for nearly all of the conduct the city wants to criminalize. The Uniform Code is a list of ordinances that many cities in Kansas have chosen to adopt for a multitude of reasons including cost savings and uniformity of city laws. Below is the Shawnee City Ordinance prohibiting Criminal Damage to Property.
Sec. 6.6. Criminal Damage to Property.
Criminal damage to property is by means other than by fire or explosive:
Knowingly damaging, destroying, defacing or substantially impairing the use of any property in which another has an interest without the consent of such other person; or
Damaging, destroying, defacing or substantially impairing the use of any property with intent to injure or defraud an insurer or lienholder.
Criminal damage to property is a Class B violation if the property damaged is of the value of less than $1,000 or is of the value of $1,000 or more and is damaged to the extent of less than $1,000.
In determining the amount of damage to property, damages may include the cost of repair or replacement of the property that was damaged, the reasonable cost of the loss of production, crops and livestock, reasonable labor costs of any kind, reasonable material costs of any kind and any reasonable costs that are attributed to equipment that is used to abate or repair the damage to the property. (K.S.A. 21-5813)
Possible Punishment
*Class B Violations are punishable by up to 180 days in the Johnson County Jail, however, most Class B Violations are eligible for probation
What do you do if you have been charged with Criminal Damage to Property in Shawnee Municipal Court?
You are doing the right thing already. If you are charged with violating the law it is best to start with just that, the law. Reading and researching the specific law that law enforcement claims you have broken is a great place to begin when you are trying to get out of this situation. Once you've looked at the law regarding criminal damage to property in Shawnee municipal court, you should do an in-depth analysis of criminal damage to property cases in Kansas. Click here for a deep-dive into the law on criminal damage to property cases. Once you've educated yourself on the law it's time to meet with a lawyer with experience with criminal damage to property cases in Shawnee Municipal court. At that meeting you can rely on the knowledge you have gained by researching the law and ask good questions as to possible defenses, as well as, rely on the lawyer's experience with how similar cases have been handled in Shawnee Municipal Court.