I wasnt at the House of Representative debate last night in Galena. I understand that Brian Caswell a candidate for this position stated that the commissioners had the authority to stop the island annexation of the proposed landfill. I had a phone conversation with Mr. Caswell about this subject today. He told me that he had read the statute, and had an attorney review it as well. He stated that after reviewing this and having an attorney review this he came to this conclusion. Unfortunately Mr. Caswell’s interpretation of this statute is incorrect. The county did seek two different legal opinions from attorney’s that specialize in city annexations. They both gave us the same advice, as how we interpreted this statute. An example of this procedure being used would be the Oswego airport. The land was in Cherokee County, the City of Oswego is in Labette County. The City of Oswego owned the land, and because of this they were able to annex it into their city without Cherokee County having a say in this process. In statute K.S.A. 12-520; 12-520. Conditions which permit annexation; ordinance; severability of ordinance where annexation invalid; limitations. (a) Except as hereinafter provided, the governing body of any city, by ordinance, may annex land to such city if any one or more of the following conditions exist: (1) The land is platted, and some part of the land adjoins the city. (2) The land is owned by or held in trust for the city or any agency thereof. Notice number (2) states; The land is owned by or held in trust for the city or any agency therof. You can view the entire statute by clicking on this link. kslegislature.org/li/m/statute/012_000_0000_chapter/012_005_0000_article/012_005_0020_section/012_005_0020_k.pdf In Statute K.S.A. 12-520a.; (f) No resolution, notice and public hearing required under the provisions of this section shall be required as a prerequisite to the annexation of land owned by or held in trust for the city or any agency thereof or land all of the owners of which petition for or consent thereto in writing. You can view the entire statute by clicking on this link. kslegislature.org/li/b2013_14/statute/012_000_0000_chapter/012_005_0000_article/012_005_0020a_section/012_005_0020a_k/ I hope this helps clarify this statute, and gives you a better understanding of why the Board of County Commissioners will not be able to stop this island annexation as the statutes are currently written. If you have any questions, I will do my best to answer any that you might have. Sincerely, Richard Hilderbrand District 3 County Commissioner
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 01:14:59 +0000
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