Topeka ? A proposal to abolish the Kansas death penalty will be considered by lawmakers during the second week of the 2010 legislative session, a legislator said Wednesday.

State Sen. Thomas “Tim” Owens, R-Overland Park, who is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said hearings on the proposal would start Jan. 19.

“We are going to have a complete and thorough discussion of death penalty abolition,” Owens said.

Efforts to repeal the death penalty failed in the Senate during the last legislative session. Some opposed the repeal while others said they were concerned that the way the legislation was written, it would have also done away with the life-without-parole sentence for murder.

Kansas has not executed anyone since 1965.