Some legislators say the state program that indefinitely holds sexual offenders doesn't seem to be effective, while others say the treatment is working. Lawmakers last week rejected an effort to require an audit of the program at Larned State Hospital.

Opponents said the move would threaten public safety and the jobs of the program's employees. But Representative Bob Bethell, a Republican from Alden, says that since the program started in 1994 only two people have finish the various phases of treatment and been released.

Under Kansas law, sex offenders who have finished their prison
sentences can be kept in the program at Larned State Hospital if they are determined to be a continuing threat to the community.

But costs of the program have increased. The proposed budget for
the sexual predator treatment program for this year is 13.4 million
dollars to treat 171 patients.