National Association of Sentencing Commissions honors a 33-year criminal-justice veteran for a career advancing data-driven sentencing policy
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Scott Schultz, Executive Director of the Kansas Sentencing Commission, has received the Richard P. Kern Memorial Award from the National Association of Sentencing Commissions (NASC). The award was presented on August 13, 2026, at the association’s annual conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The Kern Award is NASC’s highest individual honor, recognizing a person who has contributed greatly to the development of sentencing policy and research.
Schultz has spent more than three decades in Kansas criminal law. He began practicing in 1993 — the year the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act took effect — first as an assistant county attorney trying cases and handling appeals, then in private criminal-defense practice, and for nearly twelve years as an assistant attorney general and special assistant United States attorney prosecuting securities fraud. He has led the Kansas Sentencing Commission as its Executive Director since 2011, marking fifteen years in the role this October.
Among the accomplishments cited by the association is the Kansas Sentencing Application (KSApp), a system Schultz championed to digitize three felony sentencing forms that had been completed on paper since 1993. By building sentencing logic directly into the application, the Commission reduces errors at the source and improves the quality of the statewide data it provides to policymakers. Schultz drafted the enabling legislation, 2026 House Bill 2552, which passed both chambers of the Kansas Legislature and made use of the application mandatory statewide effective July 1, 2026.
“A sentencing commission has almost no power of its own,” Schultz said. “We cannot pass a law or impose a sentence. Our only asset is trust, and our only product is unbiased data placed in the hands of the people who make policy. This award belongs as much to the staff of the Kansas Sentencing Commission as it does to me.”
“Scott has spent a career earning the confidence of every branch of Kansas government,” said Judge Ben Sexton, chair of the Kansas Sentencing Commission. “This national recognition is richly deserved.”
The award honors Richard P. Kern, the founding director of the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, who led that agency from its creation in 1994 until his death in 2011 and was a nationally recognized advocate for sentencing guidelines and data-driven decision-making. NASC established the memorial award in his name in 2012.
About the Kansas Sentencing Commission
Established under the Kansas Sentencing Guidelines Act, the Kansas Sentencing Commission maintains the state’s sentencing guidelines and collects and analyzes felony sentencing data to inform the Legislature, the courts, and the public. More information is available at www.sentencing.ks.gov.
About NASC
The National Association of Sentencing Commissions is a nonpartisan organization of state sentencing commissions and related agencies that promotes the exchange of information and ideas on sentencing policy, guidelines, and research.