Kansas AG Opinions, 1977

Steel traps which may be set for coyotes are not limited in number by the provisions of K.S.A. 32-158.

Section 3 of 1977 House Bill 2005 impermissibly operates to amend and repeal other statutes without compliance with Article 2, § 16 of the Kansas Constitution. *

The board of county commissioners has no authority to abate any tax, except as provided in K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 79-1701a for the correction of clerical errors enume- rated in K.S.A. 1976 Supp- 79-1701. Re: Counties--County Counselor--Power to Appoint Synopsis: The board of county commissioners of Pottawatomie County is authorized to appoint a county counselor in the exer- cise of its home rule powers pursuant to K.S.A. 19-101a et seq., and to prescribe the duties of such officer either by reference to K.S.A. 19-247, or independently of such statute.

Upon the filing of sufficient petitions in opposition to a resolution adopted by the board of county commis- sioners concerning the levy of an intangibles tax, pursuant to K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 79-3109(b), the board may refuse to call a special election, and thus effec- tively abandon the resolution without incurring the expense of a special election. *

The independent nomination procedure prescribed under K.S.A. 25-303 is constitutionally required to be avail- able to independent candidates for municipal office in partisan city elections.

The effect of section 1 of 1977 House Bill 2002 is to impose upon lessees a duty to develop every subsurface zone of a producing leasehold as a condition of the implied covenant of reasonable development, a condition which does not now exist, and to create a presumption of breach of that covenant as a ground for partial ter- mination of the lease upon the showing prescribed in section 1 thereof, and thus operates to impair contrac- tual rights and obligations of lessees under existing leases, in violation of Article I, § 10 of the United States Constitution.

January 24, 1977 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 77-28 Mr. Michael H. Haas Sheridan County Attorney Sheridan County Courthouse Hoxie, Kansas 67740 Re: Counties--Idle Funds--Investment Synopsis: If a commercial bank located in a county offers to accept deposits of idle county funds i…

Under K.S.A. 8-1501, and its corresponding provision in the Standard Traffic Ordinance for Kansas Cities, the offenses of reckless driving, driving while under the influence of intoxicating liquors or drugs, and fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer, may be committed not only upon highways of the state, as that term is defined by K.S.A. 8-1424, but also upon private property.

Vehicles owned and used by a city for the operation of a municipal solid waste collection program are vehi- cles which are used for utility purposes, as distin- guished from governmental purposes, and are thus not eligible for the registration fee of two dollars pro- vided by K.S.A. 8-143 for certain vehicles. *

The Governor's Residence Advisory Commission May not delegate its power to accept gifts on behalf of the State of Kansas for use in connection with the gover- nor's official residence to its chairperson or any of its members comprising less than a majority thereof. *

Members of the Capitol Area Security Patrol who are not members of the Kansas Highway Patrol are not eli- gible for defense services extended under K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 75-4360.

Proceeds from a levy authorized pursuant to K.S.A. 12- 1680 may be used to rent, construct or purchase appro- priate quarters to house service programs for the levy authorized under that statute.

The proceeds of a levy which was extended by the City of Haysville for the establishment of a municipal li- brary, which has since been approved by the voters thereof, and which were paid without protest, are law- fully available for expenditure by the city for library purposes. *

The entire general fund levy of a governmental unit is to be included in the "total tangible property tax levies" of such unit, on the basis of which its distribu- tive share to the proceeds of the countywide retailers' sales tax is to be determined, notwithstanding some portion of the general fund is to be applied to a pur- pose for which a separate levy might have been made under other statutory authority, which itself would have been exempt from the aggregate levy limitations of K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 79-5001 et seq.

K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 77-138 requires that sets of Kansas Statutes Annotated be delivered to elective and appoin- tive state officers who are heads of departments, which officers may be identified through information available in the Kansas Directory, which is compiled by the Sec- retary of State. *

No person may be appointed a notary public under K.S.A. 53-101 et seq. unless there is in effect on the date of such appointment a valid surety bond as required by K.S.A. 53-102. No appointment may be made to empower any person to act as a notary public retroactively, i.e., prior to the date the appointment is made, al- though an appointment may be made to commence at a date certain in the future.

The City of Eureka did not acquire fee simple absolute title to property acquired by eminent domain proceedings in 1958 for a municipal airport which would enable the city to convey fee simple absolute title to portions thereof to purchasers for industrial sites. *

Employment with a state university or junior college of another state does not constitute employment in the "public school system" of such other state within the meaning of K.S.A. 74-4936a.

K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 79-1947 imposes no limit upon the levy which may be made under K.S.A. 12-1234 for the establishment and maintenance of a regional library which is established under K.S.A. 12-1231 et seq.

Under charter ordinance no. 16 of the City of Overland Park, a person appointed to fill a vacancy on the city council of that city serves until the next regular city election. Any person so appointed may stand for elec- tion at that time to complete the unexpired term, or may stand for election to serve a full term of four years in the other council position from that same ward. The precinct committee members within the ward have no authority to assign a candidate to seek the nomina- tion or election to any position which is to be filled at the regular city election.

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.

District judges, associate district judges and district magistrate judges may be assigned to hear and try any case within such assigned judge's jurisdiction by the appropriate departmental justice. The administrative judge may make such assignments when and as authorized to do so by the departmental justice.

Under K.S.A. 8-237, the holder of a restricted license may operate a motor vehicle at any time while going to or from or in connection with any job or employment, whether or not the driver receives compensation for such job or employment. * *

A district magistrate judge who is appointed to office or retained in office by a vote of the electors, but who is not elected thereto by a partisan election, is not an elected official who may elect whether to become a member of the Kansas public employees' retirement system. A judge who is elected to office, and there- after subject to retention, is an elected official only during the term to which he or she was elected, and not during any subsequent term for which such judge was not elected, but retained.

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.

The Small Claims Procedure Act, K.S.A. 61-2701 et seq., does not prohibit a handicapped person who appears as a party in an action under that act from utilizing the assistance o some other individual in the presentation of the party's claim or defense in such an action, here such assistance is designed to permit the handicapped party to present his or her claim effectively despite speech, hearing or other impairments which would other- wise hinder or prevent such handicapped person from utilizing the small claims procedure act for the reso- lution of disputes.

An associate district judge who has prior service under the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System and who becomes a member of the retirement system for justices and judges under ch. 146, § 27(b), L. 1976, may with- draw his or her accumulated contributions which are on deposit with the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System.

Special facilities revenue bonds may be issued for the construction, etc. of facilities located upon airport property but not related to airport opera- tion pursuant to K.S.A. 3-154, notwithstanding K.S.A. 3-116 and 13-1348b. *

The provision of K.S.A. 61-2707(a) which forbids any party in an action under the small claims procedure act to be represented by counsel therein results in a denial of due process to the parties in any such proceeding before an associate district judge from and after January 10, 1977, unless and until provision is made for an appeal from such proceedings to a hearing de novo at which the parties may be represented by counsel.

Any health systems agency operating within the state of Kansas pursuant to K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 65-4801 et seq. must initiate the formulation of its own criteria for the review of applications for certificates of need. Similarly, all health systems agencies in Kansas should conduct reviews of any application for certificate of need which is submitted to it, and make comments and recommendations on said applications to the Secretary of Health and Environment.

The parents of a child subject to the compulsory attendance law may not withdraw that child from a public or private school and hire a private tutor to handle the education of their child, for home instruction is not an excuse for nonattendance under the Kansas truancy act. * *

Goods, wares and merchandise, which are manufactured in Kansas, if stored in a bonded and licensed ware- house and 35% or more of the inventory of finished pro- ducts are shipped to points out-of-state, are exempt from Kansas ad valorem taxation on that percentage of the average monthly inventory which is shipped in interstate commerce. Such exemption extends only to the manufactured goods, wares and merchandise as finished products, and does not apply to the raw materials on hand and construction work in progress, and other tangible personal property belonging to the Kansas manufacturer havin

The Legislature has established special statutes to value and assess for ad valorem taxation oil and gas properties and royalty interests therein as personal property. This has been done lease by lease, breaking down the total value of each lease on the percentage royalty ownership for each owner_, using the statutory formula of val- uation. The 1977 amendments have not changed this method of tax valuation and assessment. * *

A bond election held under K.S.A. 80-2194 should be canvassed by the board of directors of the district itself, and it is not necessary that the board of county commissioners also canvass said election.

A resolution adopted by the board of county commissioners on or before July 1 which adopts a schedule of fees for solid waste service pursuant to K.S.A. 1976 Supp. 65-3410 is effective on the date of adoption of said resolution, unless the resolution otherwise provides. Its effectiveness is not delayed until the succeeding calendar year by any provision of art. 34, ch. 65, K.S.A.

May 17 1977 ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 77-158 Lynette Keddie Register of Deeds Stafford County Courthouse St. John, Kansas 67576 RE: Uniform Commercial Code - Secured Transactions - Oil and Gas - Fixture Filings - Place of Recording and Indexing SYNOPSIS: Under the Uniform Comm…

Because it is not authorized to approve applications for authority to award academic or honorary degrees by licensees under the Kansas Proprietary School Act, K.S.A. 72-4916 et seq., the Board of Education may not entertain applications from such parties and permit such applicants to commence a period of candidacy and evaluation therefor.

`ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 7-102 Honorable Ross 0. Doyen President, Kansas State Senate State Capitol Building Topeka, Kansas 66612 RE: Criminal Law - Uniform Controlled Substances Act - Marihuana SYNOPSIS: 1977 House Bill 2313 contains no classification which on its face is m…

The term bona fide resident as used in K.S.A. 32- 104a denotes any person who by his or her deliberate good faith acts and intentions has established an abode in Kansas to which whenever such person is absent he or she intends to return.