Halfway house can be residential

Lydia Krebs won in State v. Brown, No. 96,593 (Kan. App. Sept. 21, 2007), obtaining jail credit for time Mr. Brown spent in a halfway house. What is interesting about this case is that it sets up rather factually intensive determinations to be made by district courts when determining whether a specific placement is a residential facility. For example, it can depend in part on the program-nature of the halfway-house:

Going deeper into the matter, we think that what is required of a defendant at such a facility is an important consideration. We do not think that K.S.A. 21-4614a contemplates that credit must be extended for time spent at a flophouse for the idle. A court must examine each facility to see if there are any program requirements of the facility and if there are, the court must determine if they have a rehabilitative component.

This seems like it could be a little time-consuming on the part of district courts, but I suppose once a decision is made about a specific facility, that would carry over to other cases as well. I don't know how many facilities there are like this--that are sort of on the edge.

"Flophouse for the idle?"

[Update: the state did not file a PR and the mandate issued on October 25, 2007.]