Kansas Attorney General Opinions

The legislature may extend the terms of office of county treasurers elected at the general election in 1976 until the second Tuesday of October of 1981. * *

There is no state official who is empowered to execute a lease of the mineral interests reserved to the State of Kansas in the property known as the Ellsworth Home for the Aged, and which were reserved to the State of Kansas in a deed executed July 1, 1959, by the State Board of Social Welfare conveying said property pursuant to K.S.A. 76-14a03.

A county may not establish petty cash funds for the use of county departments except when and as authorized by specific statutory authority. Statutory county home rule powers may not be used for that purpose, because the use of such funds constitutes a departure from the uniform procedure for the payment of claims and other indebtedness by municipalities, which applies manda- torily and uniformly to all counties.

The 1977 amendment to K.S.A. 12-1908 does not authorize U.S.D. 373 to levy an additional one mill levy for the Newton Recreation Commission. The additional levy authority provided by the 1977 amendment applies only to levies made for the Commission by the city, and not to such levies made by the school district.

Where a mortgage has been paid in full prior to July 1, 1977, but the release of the mortgage was never entered on the original instrument on file, and the mortgagee died before executing an instrument as required the 1977 amendment to re- lease a mortgage, the procedure should now be to request the Probate Court, having charge of the estate of the deceased mortgagee, to authorize and direct the administrator or executor to sign such a release instrument and record it as the personal representative of the deceased mortgagee. *

The operation of a loan production office by a national bank does not constitute branch banking for the purpose of 12 U.S.C. 36(c) and is therefore allowable for national banks operating in the State of Kansas so long as loans are approved and made at the main bank office.

K.S.A. 72-5440(b) does not authorize the compensation of members of hearing committees serving pursuant to K.S.A. 72-5436 et seq

Payment of unused sick leave is lawful and a proper subject for negotiation pursuant K.S.A. 72-5413 et seq.

The establishment of a fringe benefit pool for teachers is a proper subject for negotiation pursuant to 72-5413 et seq.

K.S.A. 44-201 applies to contracts of the Kansas Turn- pike Authority. * *

March 2, 1978 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 78- 104 Mr. Steven D. Harris Director Kansas Energy Office 503 Kansas Topeka, Kansas 66603 Re: Kansas Energy Office--Powers--Jurisdiction Synopsis: That portion of K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 74-6806 which autho- rizes the governor to declare an e…

Authority for resolving questions concerning the validity of appraisal schedules for farm machinery prescribed by the Director of Property Valuation rests solely with the State Board of Tax Appeals.

K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 3-314 authorizes the issuance of revenue bonds thereunder for the construction of an office building to be located at the Johnson County Executive Airport.

Felony murder is not a lesser included offense of first degree murder under House Bill 2863.

1977 House Bill 3095 does not contain provisions re- lating to more than one subject in violation of Article 2, § 16 of the Kansas Constitution. *

K.S.A. 75-104 requires the preservation of all docu- mentary requests to the governor which seek his assis- tance in any matter because of his official position as governor of the state, and authorizes delivery of such records to the State Historical Society as the only legally permitted disposition of such records upon the expiration of the mandated three-year retention period. *

Shares or units of a mutual fund, the assets of which consist entirely of general obligation and revenue bonds of municipal and quasi-municipal corporations which are themselves eligible to be pledged as security for the deposit of public funds under K.S.A. 1977 Supp. 9-1402, are not authorized to be accepted as security for the deposit of public funds under that section.

March 17, 1977 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 77- 99 Mr. Devon Knoll Director Kansas Adult Authority 818 Kansas Avenue Topeka, Kansas RE: Criminal Procedure - Release Procedures - Parole Eligibility SYNOPSIS: Under former K.S.A. 1971 Supp. 22-3717, an offender less than 21 years of…

Special assessments levied by special operating cost assessment districts authorized by K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 72-8213a are not genuine special assessments which are exempt from Article 11, § 1 of the Kansas Constitution, but are general taxes of the school district in which said special operating cost assessment district is created. The imposition of such so-called special assessments results in an unequal rate of taxation within the taxing district, in violation of that con stitutional problem. *

A city which purchases liability insurance under K.S.A. 74-4716 for its officers and employees, but not for the city itself, does not waive its governmental immu- nity for liability. If the city does purchase such insurance, and allows it to expire by cancellation, lapse of policy, or otherwise, the governmental immunity is restored by operation of law, for said immunity was waived only to the extent of the insurance which said city purchased, and only for the duration of said cover- age. *

All property, real or tangible personal property, actually and regularly used for hospital purposes, is exempt, both under Article 11, Section 1 of the Kansas Constitution' and. K.S.A. 1975 Supp. 79-201(b). It is the exclusive use for an exempt purpose that counts, not ownership. *

A contract providing for trade-in allowance, payment of interest, and payment of purchase price of leased property in 36 monthly installments is a lease-purchase agreement which is prohibited by the cash-basis law, K.S.A. 10-1113.

An enactment which adopted by reference the average interest rate on all new Federal Land Bank loans over the most recent five calendar years as the capitaliza- tion rate for implementation of the use-value constitu- tional amendment respecting agricultural land does not constitute an impermissible delegation of legislative power. *

A "qualified voter" in an election for members of the board of directors of a watershed district organized under K.S.A. 24-1201 et seq. is any qualified elector of the district, i.e., any r e gistered voter of the district, and any person eighteen years of age or over who owns land within the district, whether a registered voter or a resident of the district.

A marshal of a city of the third class has no authority to appoint deputy marshals of such city. Re: Counties--Sheriffs--Deputies Synopsis: K.S.A. 19-805a authorizes the appointment of special deputies only in counties with a population in excess of 100,000, and persons appointed under the authority of this section may receive no payment for services rendered from public funds.

Use of a flat monthly allowance for official travel, based upon travel patterns, past experience, and the like is permissible under K.S.A. 22a-105, as an alterna- tive to maintenance of a daily travel log. * *

Judges pro tern of Sedgwick County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Court and Juvenile Court during the period of 1974 through 1976 were officers of the respective courts in which they served, receiving compensation therefor from Sedgwick County, and the county is responsible for any withholding of Social Security contributions which may be due on payments made to said judges for their services. *

No county may extend a levy under the authority of K.S.A. 19-4004 for mental health and/or mental retardation services unless it has established a mental health cen- ter and appointed a governing board therefor under K.S.A. 19-4001 and -4002. All of the proceeds of any such levy must be turned over to the governing board so ap- pointed, and under article 11, § 5 of the Kansas Consti- tution, the proceeds of any such levy may not be applied to any other purpose.

The requirement of K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 65-6a31 that custom products be marked "not for sale" does not apply to product slaughtered in an inspected slaughterhouse and processed in a retail store for the use of the owner of said carcass and meat product resulting therefrom.

The fact that a county has initiated countywide ambu- lance service pursuant to K.S.A. 19-261 does not prevent a city in said county from thereafter commencing its own ambulance service and claiming the right to reim- bursement from the county as provided in the cited section. *

Under the 1976 amendment to K.S.A. 20-904, the court reporter's fee of one dollar and fifty cents provided by that statute is to be assessed against the docket fee which is paid for the filing of actions under the Kansas Code of Civil Procedure, i.e., civil actions, and is not required to be assessed against docket fees which are assessed and collected in criminal actions pursuant to K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 28-172a. *

A proposed plan whereby a school district would create a trust fund of a maximum stated balance consisting of monies currently expended for group insurance pre- miums and maintaining said fund balance by replenishing the trust in amounts equal to the claims drawn by group participants, thus becoming self-insured, is not autho- rized by K.S.A. 72-8414.

Budgeting procedures of watershed districts are not subject to the tax lid requirements of K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 79-5001 et seq.

K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 20-350(c) authorizes the investment of idle funds, i.e., moneys on deposit in the district court account which are not immediately required for the purposes for which the moneys were collected, only in time deposit, open accounts and certificates of deposit. Deposit of such moneys in savings accounts, including passbook savings accounts, is not authorized by law. *

The local public library established by the City of Haysville, upon the approval of the voters of that city at an election held on the question in November, 1976, is not ineligible for a state grant-in-aid by virtue of the lack of a local ad valorem levy for said library during the preceding year.

A township has no authority to join together with an- other township for the joint maintenance of a township hall which is located in another county, except when two or more adjoining townships in a single county erect a hall for their joint use and benefit under K.S.A. 80-107. *

Kansas Administrative Regulation 69-4-8 provides that a student who has missed over 240 hours of instruction due to extenuating circumstances may be readmitted to the school upon proper application and reregistration. Said student may receive credit for two-thirds of the hours earned prior to such interruption of training.

The use of "time out" rooms for children and adolescent patients at the University of Kansas Medical Center constitutes the use of "seclusion" within the meaning of K.S.A 1976 Supp. 59-2928. Certain items, such as firearms, other weapons, medication, incendiary mate- rials and the like constitute such demonstrably haz- ardous materials that they may be withheld from the personal possessions of a patient in a treatment facil- ity without a specific finding of "good cause" in each separate instance, upon the adoption of an appropriate regulation describing such items.

Associate district judges constitute judges who are entitled to the additional per annum compensation autho- rized by K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 43-169(a) for service as jury commissioners.

A county board of commissioners may by charter reso- lution provide for the appointment of more than five trustees for a county hospital established and operated pursuant to K.S.A. 19-1801, et seq. *

Proposed Rule 18, being considered for adoption by the Joint Committee on Special Claims against the State, regulating the compensation paid by claimants to at- torneys and other persons representing such claimants before the Committee, goes beyond the authority of the Committee to adopt rules governing its own procedures. Any such regulatory authority must be exercised by valid and constitutional legislative enactment rather than by committee rules which govern only the parliamentary and procedural conduct of business before the Committee.

K.S.A. 58-320 requires the destruction of records enu- merated therein by burning thereof in the presence of the county commissioners, and there appears no basis upon which to sanction any Other method of destruction as an officially permissible practice.

There is no statutory requirement that purchase orders, requisitions and warrant registers be executed by two members of the board of county commissioners, so long as the warrants and warrant checks themselves are exe- cuted as required by K.S.A. 10-803.

March 7, 1977 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 77- 75 Mr. John E. Caton Turfman, Brainerd, Harris, Weigand & Depew Suite 830 First National Bank Building Wichita, Kansas 67202 Re: Cities--Home Rule--Bonded Indebtedness Synopsis: Under Article 12, § 5 of the Kansas Constitution, a Kan…

A city which did not elect to be excluded from the county plan in 1974, and which did not submit a separate solid waste management plan to the Secretary of Health and Environment for approval in 1974, has no authority to establish a solid waste disposal area which does not conform to the county plan, and no permit may be issued for such a facility by the Secretary so long as said disposal area is proposed to be operated by a city or cities in disregard of the county plan in which such cities are included.

March 4, 1977 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 77- 73 The Honorable Patrick J. Hurley Majority Leader of the House House of Representatives 3rd Floor - State Capitol Building Topeka, Kansas 66612 Re: Constitution--Amendments--Referendum Elections Synopsis: House Concurrent Resolution…