Kansas agrees to pay $1.03M for wrongful conviction

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas has agreed to pay $1.03 million to a man who spent nearly 16 years in prison after being wrongly convicted of the 1999 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced in a news release Thursday Kansas resolved the second lawsuit under the mistaken conviction statute enacted last year.

Floyd Scott Bledsoe filed his state compensation claim in July 2018. A separate federal lawsuit filed by him in May 2016 remains pending.

Shawnee County District Judge Richard Anderson approved the settlement Wednesday and granted a certificate of innocence. Bledsoe also is entitled to state health care benefits for two years.

Five lawsuits filed have been filed under the state’s wrongful compensation law. One was resolved in December. Three others remain pending.