The dean of Kansas University’s School of Law has played a part in the state’s sexual predator law.

Stephen McAllister was called on by the Kansas Legislature when the state Supreme Court struck down the law in 1996.

“I was summoned to the Legislature 6 1/2 years ago to see if there was a way to amend the law,” McAllister said. “I believed the law was constitutional, so we appealed it to the (U.S.) Supreme Court.”

The Kansas law was challenged again just last year. The U.S. Supreme Court again upheld its constitutionality in January, but the court did narrow the guidelines for prosecutors, requiring them to prove that mental illness interferes with a sex offender’s self-control.

McAllister said he believed strongly in the Kansas sexual predator program.

“What I do believe is Kansas has a very legitimate and substantial treatment program; that’s why I believe in it. It’s a costly thing to operate to do treatment properly, but I think it’s a move in the right direction.”