Chapter 31, FIRE PROTECTION

31-132. Fire safety and prevention; definitions. As used in this act, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) "Person" means an individual, partnership, corporation or other association. (b) "Nationally recognized code" or "nationally recognized fire prevention code" means any…

31-132a. Fire safety and prevention; apartment house, defined. Every building or other structure, together with any building or structure used in connection therewith, kept, used, maintained, advertised, or held out to the public to be a place where furnished or unfurnished livin…

31-133. Fire marshal; power and duties; rules and regulations. (a) The state fire marshal shall adopt reasonable rules and regulations, consistent with the provisions of this act, for the safeguarding of life and property from fire, explosion and hazardous materials. Such rules a…

31-133a. Fire extinguishers; inspection, installation or service, certification by state fire marshal; rules and regulations; fees. (a) No business shall inspect, install or service portable fire extinguishers or automatic fire extinguishers for commercial cooking equipment witho…

31-134. Adoption of rules and regulations, procedure; distribution; fees; remittance; designated as fire prevention code; judicial review. (a) Any rules and regulations adopted by the state fire marshal under this act shall comply with the provisions of K.S.A. 77-415 et seq., and…

31-134a. Same; compliance with certain building codes deemed compliance with fire prevention code. (a) A building shall be deemed to comply with the Kansas fire prevention code if the building conforms to one of the following building codes, has been issued a certificate of occup…

31-135. Advisory committees to assist fire marshal; membership; no compensation. Whenever it is deemed necessary, the state fire marshal may appoint an advisory committee or committees to assist in the formulation and revision of the state fire prevention code and in the establis…

31-136. Same; exemptions from regulations, when; procedure. The state fire marshal shall have the power to grant exemptions from the application of specific requirements of regulations promulgated pursuant to this act. Any such exemption shall be granted only upon written request…

31-137. Same; enforcement of act and regulations; investigations; entry and examination of buildings and premises; report, filing. The state fire marshal, deputies of the fire marshal, the chief of any organized fire department of any municipality, whether such fire department is…

31-138. Same; hearings; information and evidence to attorney general or county attorney; prosecution; assistance by state fire marshal. The state fire marshal or any of the state fire marshal's deputies, in making the investigations authorized or required in K.S.A. 31-137, and am…

31-139. Same; right of entry to determine compliance with law and regulations; complaint; order to cease and desist. The state fire marshal and those persons designated in K.S.A. 31-137 shall have the authority during all reasonable hours of operation to enter, in accordance with…

31-140. Same; appeals from orders; notice and hearing; decisions; compliance. Any person aggrieved by any order or ruling issued pursuant to the provisions of this act may appeal such order or ruling to the state fire marshal within 15 days from the date of the service of such or…

31-141. Same; powers of fire marshal in conduct of hearing; subpoena of witnesses and records; record of proceedings; statement; failure to comply with subpoena, effect; order by district court; service of process; costs, taxation. (a) Whenever the state fire marshal or the state…

31-142. Judicial review of fire marshal's action. Any action of the state fire marshal pursuant to K.S.A. 31-140, and amendments thereto, is subject to review in accordance with the Kansas judicial review act. History: L. 1972, ch. 157, § 11; L. 1977, ch. 105, § 13; L. 1986, ch. …

31-143. Fire marshal authorized to advise and assist state civil defense director; assistance to municipalities; responsibilities and duties of state fire marshal. (a) The state fire marshal shall be authorized to advise, assist and coordinate with the state civil defense directo…

31-144. School buildings; definition; inspection; correction of violations; closing in lieu of repair; judicial review. (a) As used in this act, "school building" means any building or structure operated or used for any purpose by, or located upon the land of, any school district…

31-145. Powers of actual members of organized fire departments. Actual members of any organized fire department, whether regular or volunteer, of any municipality shall be vested with police power to form fire lines, to prohibit persons from interfering with firefighters in the d…

31-146. Mandatory provisions of regulations governing transportation of liquid fuels; how inspections performed. The rules and regulations promulgated by the state fire marshal for transporting liquid fuel shall require that the vehicles used in such transportation be inspected b…

31-147. Compliance with regulations by hotels, lodging facilities and restaurants. Hotels, motels, rooming houses, apartment houses, adult care homes, child care facilities, hospitals, adult boarding homes and restaurants shall comply with the rules and regulations promulgated by…

31-148. Inspection of building under jurisdiction of state penal director and division of institutional management. The state fire marshal at least annually shall inspect all buildings under the jurisdiction of the state penal director and the division of institutional management…

31-150. Fire safety and prevention; school buildings; construction, reconstruction or renovation requirements; accessibility to persons with a disability; building plans, certification; exceptions; rules and regulations. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the const…

31-150a. Violations of fire prevention code; criminal penalty; injunction. (a) Any person who violates any provision of this act or the act of which this act is amendatory, or who violates any rule or regulation adopted pursuant thereto, or who violates any lawful order issued by…

31-157. Fire marshal deputies and investigatory personnel; law enforcement powers, when; training required, exceptions. (a) The state fire marshal, the state fire marshal's deputies and full-time fire prevention personnel assigned investigation duties who are members of a paid fi…

31-158. Fire safety and prevention; sale to or purchase by fire department of clothing or equipment which does not meet standards set by national fire protection association; penalty; definition. (a) No person shall knowingly sell or offer for sale in this state to any fire depar…

31-159. Violations of fire prevention code, administrative penalties. (a) In addition to any other penalty provided by law, the state fire marshal, upon finding that any person has violated the provisions of the Kansas fire prevention code, may impose a penalty not to exceed $1,0…

31-160. Smoke detectors; citation of act. K.S.A. 31-160 through 31-164 shall be known and may be cited as the smoke detector act. History: L. 1998, ch. 66, § 12; July 1.

31-161. Same; definitions. When used in this act: (a) "Dwelling unit" means a single-family residence, multiple-family residence and each living unit in a mixed-use building. (b) "Smoke detector" means a device or combination of devices which operate from a power supply in the dw…

31-162. Same; installation of smoke detectors required; limitations on enforcement; certain evidence inadmissible; insurance payments not affected. (a) Every single-family residence shall have at least one smoke detector on every story of the dwelling unit. (b) Every structure wh…

31-163. Same; violations; penalties. Failure to place or maintain a smoke detector as provided by the smoke detector act shall be a nonclass nonperson misdemeanor. Any fine imposed for a violation of this section shall not exceed $25. History: L. 1998, ch. 66, § 15; July 1.

31-164. Same; act in addition to local law. This law shall be in addition to any county resolution or city ordinance relating to regulation of smoke detectors. History: L. 1998, ch. 66, § 16; July 1.

31-165. Toll-free number; hazardous materials incidents. The state fire marshal may provide a toll-free telephone number where persons may call the state fire marshal to request a response to a hazardous materials incident. History: L. 1999, ch. 65, § 2; July 1.

31-170. Use of pyrotechnics; places of public assembly. (a) As used in this section: (1) "Place of public assembly" means a building or structure with an occupancy capacity of 50 or more. (2) "Pyrotechnics" mean any controlled exothermic chemical reactions that are timed to creat…

31-171. Roofing material; wood shakes or wood shingles; restrictive covenants, unenforceable, when. (a) On and after the effective date of this act, any provision of a restrictive covenant which requires the use of wood shingles or wood shakes as a roof covering material for any …

31-172. Licensed care facility inspection; prohibition of body cameras and other recording devices. (a) The state fire marshal and any of the marshal's representatives shall not wear or operate a body camera or other audio or video recording device during an on-site inspection of…

31-301. Fire protection; creation of benefit district; procedure. Whenever 51% of the resident property owners of territory located partly in two or more counties and adjacent to, or within a radius of 10 miles of a city, and the boundaries of the territory coincide with the boun…

31-302. Same; governing body; election; terms; vacancies; contracts for services. (a) Any benefit district created pursuant to K.S.A. 31-301, and amendments thereto, shall be governed by a board of directors. Except as provided in subsection (b), the members of the board of educa…

31-303. Same; budget; tax levies. Each year the board of directors shall file the budget of the benefit district with the clerk of the county in which the city is located. The county clerk of every other county in which any territory of the benefit district is located, on or befo…

31-304. Same; disposition of tax moneys; expenditures. The county treasurer of any county in which any part of the benefit district lies, except the county treasurer of the county in which the city lies, shall upon collection of the tax moneys provided for in K.S.A. 31-303 transm…

31-305. Same; issuance of bonds and no-fund warrants; procedure; purpose. (a) The governing body of any benefit district created under the provisions of K.S.A. 31-301 et seq., and amendments thereto, may issue general obligation bonds of the district for the purpose of: (1) Acqui…

31-401. Title. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Kansas arson reporting-immunity act." History: L. 1979, ch. 132, § 1; July 1. CASE ANNOTATIONS 1. Insurer who acts in bad faith is not immune under Kansas arson reporting immunity act. Weathers V. American Family Mut…

31-402. Definitions. As used in this act, unless the context requires otherwise, the following words and phrases shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section. (a) "Authorized agencies" means: (1) The office of state fire marshal; (2) the office of the attorney general…

31-403. Disclosure of information by insurance companies; disclosure of information by authorized agency; immunity from liability in civil actions. (a) Any authorized agency may, in writing, require an insurance company to release to the requesting agency any or all relevant info…

31-404. Disclosure of information by an individual; immunity from liability in civil actions. Any individual who provides information to an authorized agency, whether oral or written, concerning the damaging of any building or property by fire shall be immune from any liability a…

31-405. Confidentiality of information; personnel of authorized agency required to testify. (a) Except as otherwise provided in K.S.A. 31-403(c), any authorized agency or insurance company described in K.S.A. 31-402 or 31-403 which receives any information furnished pursuant to t…

31-406. Violation of act; penalties. It is unlawful and a violation of this act to fail to release information or evidence pursuant to K.S.A. 31-403(a) or to fail to give notice and to provide material developed from an inquiry into a fire loss as provided in K.S.A. 31-403(b). An…

31-501. Short title; administration. (a) K.S.A. 31-501 through 31-506, and amendments thereto, shall be known and may be cited as the "Kansas fireworks act." (b) This act shall be administered by the state fire marshal. History: L. 2007, ch. 83, § 1; January 1, 2008.

31-502. Definitions. As used in this act, unless the context otherwise requires: (a) (1) "Distributor of display fireworks" means any person engaged in the distribution of display fireworks in the state of Kansas, including: (A) Selling, intending to sell, offering for sale, poss…

31-503. Licensure to sell or use fireworks, requirements; unlawful actions; permit to conduct fireworks display; fees; annual registration of permanent retailers; adoption of rules and regulations. (a) Any person who intends to sell, offer for sale, possess with intent to sell, a…

31-504. Display fireworks storage facility permit, fee. (a) The owner of any display fireworks storage facility shall obtain a storage site permit from the state fire marshal for permanent or temporary storage. Storage permits are not required for day boxes used at a display site…

31-505. Disposition of fees. All fees collected pursuant to this act shall be transmitted to the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount …