State v. Andelt

Hill, J.:

In this appeal we must answer the question whether a sentencing court may impose a prison sentence on a defendant whose criminal history score presumptively qualifies him for drug abuse treatment. Randy Wayne Andelt, on parole for a felony in Nebraska, pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine in Kansas. His criminal history score placed Andelt in a sentencing category calling for drug abuse treatment. The district court sent him to prison instead. We hold Andelt’s sentence was a proper guidelines sentence because our sentencing statutes do not compel a court to impose a…