State v. Deloach

── State v. Deloach ── Court: Court of Appeals of Kansas Date: June 05, 2026 Category: General NOT DESIGNATED FOR PUBLICATION Nos. 128,701 128,702 128,703 128,704 IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF KANSAS STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee, v. HAROLD C. DELOACH, Appellant. MEMORANDUM OPINION Appeal from Sedgwick District Court; DAVID KAUFMAN, judge. Submitted without oral argument. Opinion filed June 5, 2026. Vacated and remanded with directions. Corrine E. Gunning, of Kansas Appellate Defender Office, for appellant. Julie A. Koon, assistant district attorney, Marc Bennett, district attorney, and Kris W. Kobach, attorney general, for appellee. Before WARNER, C.J., HILL and BRUNS, JJ. HILL, J.: Claiming he is entitled to duplicative jail credit under K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21-6615(a) and the ruling in State v. Ervin, 320 Kan. 287, 566 P.3d 481 (2025), Harold C. Deloach appeals his sentences in four consolidated Sedgwick County cases. In opposition, the State argues the 2024 amendment to K.S.A 21-6615(a) applies because it was in effect at the time Deloach was sentenced. Our review leads us to agree with Deloach. 1  Deloach has an extensive criminal history. Deloach pled guilty to 11 counts of burglary across four separate cases. These offenses occurred between September 2022 and June 2023. On December 19, 2024, the district court sentenced Deloach to a total of 92 months in prison for the four cases. The district court awarded 340 days jail credit in 23-CR-883. The court only awarded two days credit in 23-CR-1363 because Deloach was "also held on 23CR833." The court did not award any jail credit in 23-CR-1364 or 23- CR-1525 because Deloach was also being held on the other two cases. Deloach admits he did not challenge the jail credit awards in district court. At the sentencing hearing, the district court stated it would not discuss Deloach's jail credit award in open court but that, "more than likely, the amount of time [Deloach] has spent in jail will go primarily towards this first case." The court then explicitly set out the jail credit awards in its journal entries. Deloach did not object at the sentencing hearing or to the journal entries. Generally, issues not raised before the district court cannot be raised on appeal. State v. Green, 315 Kan. 178, 182, 505 P.3d 377 (2022). But Deloach argues we can review this issue despite the lack of objection below because the issue involves only a question of law on admitted facts. See Ervin, 320 Kan. at 306. We agree. Statutory interpretation presents a question of law over which appellate courts have unlimited review. State v. Daniels, 319 Kan. 340, 342, 554 P.3d 629 (2024). The Ervin court likewise used this exception to the preservation requirement to reach the jail credit issue for the first time on appeal. 320 Kan. at 306. Resolution of this appeal hinges on which version of the statute applies. The statute in effect at the time Deloach committed his crimes was K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21- 6615. That law directed jail credit was to be awarded "for the time which the defendant has spent incarcerated pending the disposition of the defendant's case." K.S.A. 2022 2 Supp. 21-6615(a). The statute in effect at the time Deloach was sentenced, however, was K.S.A. 2024 Supp. 21-6615. The interpretation of K.S.A. 2022 Supp. 21-6615(a) is guided by two key Supreme Court cases. In State v. Hopkins, 317 Kan. 652, 652, 537 P.3d 845 (2023), the court departed