Kansas AG Opinions, 1981

Although the Kansas Open Meetings Act generally applies to a prearranged meeting of a majority of a quorum of the Kansas legislature, certain gatherings may be excepted from the Act by house or senate rule.

The restriction on bond issues imposed by K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 19-1815e does not apply to city bonds issued under the provisions of K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 12-1774 and retired in part by a tax levy authorized by K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 19-1809. Bonds issued by the county for a long term care facility pursuant to K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 19-1815e are subject to the $750,000 bonded debt limitations contained therein. Cited herein: K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 12-1774, 19-1809 and 19-1815e. *

Although written requests for notice of government meetings are preferred and the absence of a written request makes prosecution under the Kansas Open Meetings Act nearly impossible, oral requests for notice are to be honored. In addition, meetings for the discussion of personnel matters of non-elected personnel may be held in executive session, but only after the notice requirements and procedures for recessing into closed sessions have been followed.

January 23, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81- 25 Norman W. Jeter Jeter and Larson First National Bank Building P.O. Box 128 Hays, Kansas 67601 Re: Schools--Transportation of Students--Extent to Which Nonpublic School Pupils Must be Afforded Transportation Synopsis: K.S.A. 72-…

A municipality may not invest idle funds in its own" - no-fundwarants. Entitlement (federal revenue sharing) funds appropriated or budgeted by units of local government on or after January 1, 1977, may be used to pay principal and interest on no-fund warrants issued by a municipality. Where a municipality does not intend to issue bonds to finance an improvement, temporary notes may not be ,

There are no statutory obstacles to a member of the board of education of a unified school district simultaneously holding either of the offices of county attorney or municipal judge of a city of the second class. Moreover, the common law doctrine of incompatibility of offices does not preclude either of such simultaneous incumbencies.

The provisions of K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 13-1806 require that a vacancy occurring in the office of the city commissioner be filled by the remaining commissioners selecting a successor to serve until the next city general election. Even though said statute is silent as to the election procedure to be followed where such vacancy occurs during a term of office that otherwise would not have expired at such election, the apparent underlying legislative intent is that, at said election, the qualified electors of the city elect a successor to fill the balance of the unexpired term.

January 21, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81- 1, ( Y Richard C. Dearth City Attorney of Parsons P.O. Box 781 Parsons, Kansas 67357 Re: Cities of the First Class--Commission Form of Government— Filling Vacancies in Board of Commissioners Synopsis: The provisions of K.S.A. 1980…

January 20, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81 - 19 Douglas A. Price Humboldt City Attorney 701 Bridge Street Humboldt, Kansas 66748 Re: Intoxicating Liquors and Beverages--Cereal Malt Beverages--Fees for Retailers' Licenses Synopsis: Pursuant to its constitutional home rule po…

A watershed district organized pursuant to K.S.A. 24-1201 et seq. is a body corporate and politic, and has among its enumerated powers the ability to sell land and execute the necessary contracts therefor. Insofar as a sale of land on contract advances the purposes of the district and is otherwise properly made, such a sale is binding on the successors to the present board and does not violate either the Cash Basis Law (K.S.A. 10-1101 et seq.) or any other Kansas statutes. Cited herein: K.S.A. 10-1101, 24-1201, K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 19-211, 24-1209. *

The Johnson County Board of County Commissioners is author- ized to restrict the scope of emergency medical services provided by the county to those circumstances in which a person's life is in danger. The ballot proposition approved by Johnson County voters authorizing the establishment of an emergency medical service does not restrict or limit the service to be provided, nor does it restrict or limit the authority or discretion of the board of county commissioners to determine the scope of the emergency medical service to be provided by the county.

A city ordinance calling for notice of regular or special meetings only to those who request it in writing does not comport with the mandates of the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Although written requests for notice of government meetings are preferred and the absence of a written request makes prosecution under the Act nearly impossible, oral requests for notice are to be honored. Requests for agenda also may be made orally. Notice of special meetings cannot be restricted to those situations where prior notice is "possible." If a meeting is prearranged and subject to the Kansas Open Meetings Act

Where there is no federal legislation preempting a state's interest in exercising jurisdiction over juveniles residing within federal enclaves, the jurisdiction of a state district court does extend to hear and adjudicate proceedings pursuant to the juvenile code, with respect to neglected, wayward or abused children, concerning incidents occurring on the Fort Riley Military Reservation.

For the purposes of K.S.A. 72-8213, if a school building was the property of a school district disorganized pursuant to the School Unification Acts, but is owned now by a unified school district, said building is, and will continue to be an "at- tendance facility" within the meaning of that statute, as long as it is owned by the unified school district, and children attend classes therein.

The election to determine whether the number of county commissioner districts will be changed is a general election held on the Tuesday succeeding the first Monday in November on even-numbered years.

The State Board of Education is not granted authority under K.S.A. 72-978(a) to reimburse school districts for travel allowance paid to special education teachers to attend meetings, in-service workshops, special institutes, and other professional meetings. Cited herein: K.S.A. 72-978. * *

Any person lacking a valid certificate to practice psychology in this state who advertises his or her services in the "yellow pages" directory under the directory heading "Psycholo- gists," is subject to prosecution and the imposition of criminal penalties for violation of K.S.A. 74-5340. Such an advertisement constitutes an unlawful representation of a "title or description of services" by which one purports to offer psychological services to the public for a fee. Cited herein: K.S.A. 74-5301, 74-5302, 74-534D.

The Kansas Department of Revenue may reduce or eliminate a taxpayer's donation to the Kansas Nongame Wildlife Improvement Program when the Department has, upon examination of the taxpayer's tax return, reduced the amount of a refund claimed by the taxpayer.

The Kansas Commission on Civil Rights may impose reasonable personnel rules upon its employees, but any such rule may not unreasonably limit a fundamental right of a public employee. The Commission may, in circumstances justifying the same, dismiss an attorney or hearing examiner for violation of a reasonable and constitutional personnel rule, relating to conflict of interest, adopted by the Commission.

K.S.A. 79-319 is applicable only in those cases where a person is about to remove his or her property from the county. It is not applicable in those cases where a taxpayer is about to sell his or her property, or has sold the same. Cited herein: K.S.A. 79-319, 79-1420, 79-1422, 79-2109, 79-2110; L. 1899, ch. 248.

January 12, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81- 6 Mr. David W. Kester Director, Legal Services Section Kansas Department of Education 120 East Tenth Street Topeka, Kansas 66612 Re: Schools--Transportation of Students--Misbehavior on School Buses Synopsis: A school district, whi…

The term "revenues" as is found in K.S.A. 12-1743 refers to revenues derived by a city under a lease agreement covering facilities constructed or improved under the Industrial Revenue Bond Law (K.S.A. 12-1740 et seq.). The term "net earnings," as used in K.S.A. 12-1744, refers to revenues received by the city by virtue of such lease agreement.

January 6, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81- 2 The Honorable Jack Steineger State Senator, Sixth District State Capitol Topeka, Kansas 66612 Re: - Elections--Official Ballots--Simultaneous Candidacies Synopsis: The legislature has provided for two official ballots for the ele…

January 6, 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81 - 1 The Honorable W. Edgar Moore State Representative, District 26 1628 E. Sheridan Street Olathe, Kansas 66062 Re: -Agriculture--County Fairs--Annual Levy for Fair Association in Urban Area SynopsisDisbursement of Funds Agriculture…

K.S.A. 1979 Supp. 38-717 imposes a duty on specified classes of persons involved in medical or health-related professions to report suspected cases of physical or mental abuse or neglect which involve children under the age of 18 whom they have examined, attended or treated. The statutory duty would not be imposed in the case where information regarding the suspected abuse was obtained from an indirect source (i.e. a parent or other individual), although the statute does make reporting in such situations discretionary. However, a failure to act, even in situations made discretionary by statute

The provisions of K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 25-901, requiring inter alia the reporting of receipts and expenditures by organ- izations promoting the adoption or defeat of any question submitted at certain elections, does not apply to state elections. Since the question of rejecting the non-partisan method of selecting judges of the district court is a propo- sition of state concern, an election held thereon is a state election. Thus, a committee formed to promote the adoption of such proposition is not subject to the provisions of K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 25-901.

The duties of the township clerk are set forth in Article 5 of Chapter 80, Kansas Statutes Annotated, and include the custody of the records, books and papers of the township and the filing and recording of documents as are required by law. Compensation for the clerk is set by K.S.A. 80-302. Furthermore, the doctrine of incompatibility of offices does not preclude additional compensation arising out of the employment of the clerk for duties (e.g. road maintenance).

December 11, 1981 ATTORNEY P7NERAL OPINION NO. 81- 271 M. T. Bringle Sheriff of Labette County Labette County Courthouse Oswego, Kansas 67356 Re: Intoxicating Liquors and Beverages -- Kansas Liquor Control Act; Cereal Malt Beverages -- Sale, at Retail; Forbidden on Certain Days S…

Although the provisions of chapter 36 of the 1981 Session Laws of Kansas will result in an unusually large number of motor vehicle registrations at the end of calendar year 1981 and, correspondingly, will also result in an unusually large amount of money for that time of year in the special fund created under K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 8-145, any balance remaining in that special fund at the end of calendar year 1981 must be withdrawn and credited to the county general fund.

October , 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81-233 Mr. Lauren V. Gray Chairman Saline County-City-Board of Education Building Authority 303 West Ash, Room 209 Salina, Kansas 67401 Re: Cities and Municipalities -- Interlocal Coopera- tion -- Establishment of Joint Fund for Future …

October , 1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81-224 The Honorable Gerald Friedeman State Representative, One Hundred-Twelfth District 2603 Forest Great Bend, Kansas 67530 Re: State Departments; Public Officers, Employees -- Municipal Accounting Board -- Obtaining Audit of a Third …

Moneys in the special alcohol programs fund created by K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 79-41a04 may not be expended for capital improvements.

September10,1981 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 81- Robert L. Elliott Consumer Credit Commissioner Suite 1114, 535 Kansas Ave. Topeka, Kansas 66603 Re: Consumer Credit Code -- Finance Charges -- Addi- tional Charges Not Included Therein Synopsis: A lender who enters into a consumer…

By reason of the death of the incumbent county treasurer of Clay County who was re-elected to a regular term commencing in October, 1981, the person who has been appointed to fill the vacancy holds office for the balance of the unexpired term and, as required by K.S.A. 19-504, "until a succes- sor is elected and qualifies." Being a de jure officer, by virtue of these statutory provisions, the person so appointed will hold office until a successor is elected at the general election in November, 1984, and until such successor qualifies for office by taking the oath of office and filing a suffici

The disregard of the Policy and Procedures Manual of the Kansas Board of Regents does not require the invalidation of otherwise lawful actions of the Board in fixing tuition, fees and charges as authorized by K.S.A. 76-719. In addition, the fixing of tuition, fees and charges at state educational institutions need not be accomplished by rules and regulations complying with K.S.A. 1980 Supp. 77-415 et seq.