State v. Niehaus, 116244

In 2014, 14-year-old Sierra Rose Niehaus was arrested for the murder of her sister and was charged and prosecuted as an adult.
In 2016 she pled no contest pursuant to a plea agreement to second-degree murder and related charges; the district court accepted her pleas.
At sentencing the court imposed an aggregate prison term of 190 months plus postrelease supervision and ordered restitution and a variety of costs and fees.
The court assessed a $200 DNA database registration fee but waived certain BIDS-related fees (totaling $2,400) as posing an undue hardship.
Niehaus appealed, arguing K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 75-724(c) required the court to sua sponte consider her ability to pay before imposing the DNA fee; the court considered ability to pay when addressing other fees and restitution.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether K.S.A. 2016 Supp. 75-724(c) requires the court to sua sponte consider ability to pay before imposing the $200 DNA registration fee	Niehaus: statute requires the court to consider ability to pay (analogy to BIDS statute)	State: statute mandates assessment unless waived for indigency, but does not require sua sponte inquiry into ability to pay	The statute requires the fee and allows waiver if indigent, but does not obligate a sua sponte ability-to-pay inquiry; record showed the court did consider ability to pay, so affirm.

State v. Collins, 303 Kan. 472, 362 P.3d 1098 (interpreting questions of law and standards of review)
State v. Jordan, 303 Kan. 1017, 370 P.3d 417 (legislative intent controls when ascertainable)
State v. Barlow, 303 Kan. 804, 368 P.3d 331 (use of plain statutory language in construction)
State v. Robinson, 281 Kan. 538, 132 P.3d 934 (BIDS fee statute requires on-record consideration of defendant's financial resources)