2-1904.   State conservation commission; members;terms; records; seal;powers and duties; rules and regulations; compensation and expenses; employees;office and supplies.(a) There is hereby established, to serve as an agency of the state andto perform the functions conferred upon it in this act, the stateconservation commission. The state conservation commissionshall succeed to all thepowers, duties and property of the state soil conservation committee.The commission shall consist of nine members as follows:

      (1)   The director of the cooperative extension service and the director ofthe state agricultural experiment station located atManhattan, Kansas, or such persons' designees shall serve, ex officio, asmembers of the commission.

      (2)   The commission shallrequest the secretary of agriculture of United States of America toappoint one person and the secretary of the Kansasdepartment of agriculture to appoint one person, each of whom shall beresidents of the state of Kansas to serve as members of the commission.These members shall holdoffice for four years and until a successor is appointed and qualifies, withterms commencing on the second Monday in January beginning in 1973.

      (3)   Five members of the state commission shall beelected by the conservation district supervisors at a time and place tobe designated by the state conservation commission. The method ofelecting such members to be conducted as follows: The state is to bedividedinto five separate areas. Area No. I to include the followingcounties: Cheyenne, Rawlins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Osborne,Rooks, Graham, Sheridan, Thomas, Sherman, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Trego,Ellis and Russell. Area No. II to include: Greeley, Wichita, Scott,Lane, Ness, Rush, Pawnee, Hodgeman, Finney, Kearny, Hamilton, Edwards,Ford, Gray, Haskell, Grant, Stanton, Morton, Stevens, Seward, Meade,Clark, Comanche and Kiowa. Area No. III to include: Jewell, Republic,Mitchell, Cloud, Lincoln, Ottawa, Ellsworth, Saline, Rice, McPherson,Reno, Harvey, Kingman, Sedgwick, Sumner, Harper, Barber, Pratt, Bartonand Stafford. Area No. IV to include: Washington, Marshall, Nemaha,Brown, Doniphan, Clay, Riley, Pottawatomie, Jackson, Atchison,Jefferson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Shawnee, Wabaunsee,Geary, Dickinson, Morris, Osage, Franklin and Miami. Area No. V toinclude: Marion, Chase, Lyon, Coffey, Anderson, Linn, Bourbon, Allen,Woodson, Greenwood, Butler, Elk, Wilson, Neosho, Crawford, Cowley,Chautauqua, Montgomery, Labette and Cherokee. Areas II and IV will electin even number years and Areas I, III and V shall elect in oddnumber years for two year terms. The elected commission members from AreasI, III and V shall take office on January 1, of the even number years. Theremaining two elected members of the state commission from Areas II and IVshall take office on January 1, of the odd number years. The method ofelection is to be by area caucus of the district supervisorsof each of the five separate areas of Kansas. The commission shallgive each district notice of the time and place of such annual electionmeeting by letter if a member is to be elected to the commission fromthat area that year. The selection of a successor to fill an unexpiredterm shall be by appointment by the commission. The successor who isappointed to fill the unexpired term shall be a resident of the samearea as that of the predecessor.

      (b)   The commission shall keep a record of its official actions, shalladopt a seal which seal shall be judicially noticed, and may perform such acts,hold such public hearings and adopt rules and regulations necessary for theexecution of its functions under this act.

      (c)   The state conservation commission may employ anadministrative officer and such technical experts as it may require and shalldetermine their qualifications and duties. Such officer and expertsshall be in the unclassified service of the Kansas civil service actand shall receive annual salaries fixed by the commission and approvedby the state finance council. All other agents and employees, permanentor temporary, required by the state conservation commission, shall be withinthe classified service of the Kansas civil service act. The commissionmay call upon the attorney general of the state for such legal servicesas it may require. It shall have authority to delegate to itschairperson,to one or more of its members or to one or more agents oremployees, such powers and duties as it deems proper. It shall besupplied with suitable office accommodations at the state capital, andshall be furnished with the necessary supplies and equipment. Uponrequest of the commission, for the purpose of carrying out any of itsfunctions, the supervising officer of any state agency or of any stateinstitution of learning, insofar as may be possible underavailable appropriations and having due regard to the needs of theagency to which the request is directed, shall assign or detail to thecommission members of the staff or personnel of such agency orinstitution of learning and make such special reports, surveys orstudies as the commission may request.

      (d)   The commission shall designate its chairperson and,from time to time, may change such designation. A majority of the commissionshallconstitute a quorum, and the concurrence of a majority in any matterwithin their duties shall be required for its determination. Members ofthe state conservation commission attending meetings of such commissionor attending a subcommittee meeting thereof authorized by suchcommission shall be paid compensation, subsistence allowances, mileageand other expenses as provided in K.S.A. 75-3223, andamendments thereto. Thecommission shall provide for keeping of a full and accurate record ofall proceedings and of all resolutions, regulations and orders issuedor adopted.

      (e)   In addition to the duties and powers hereinafterconferred uponthe state conservation commission, it shall have the following dutiesand powers:

      (1)   To offer such assistance as may be appropriate to thesupervisors of conservation districts, organized as providedhereinafter, in the carrying out of any of their powers and programs;

      (2)   to keep the supervisors of each of the several districts organizedunder the provisions of this act informed of the activities andexperience of all other districts organized hereunder and to facilitatean interchange of advice and experience between such districts andcooperation between them;

      (3)   to coordinate the programs of the severalconservation districts organized hereunder;

      (4)   to secure thecooperation and assistance of the United States and any of its agenciesand of agencies of this state, in the work of such districts and tocontract with or to accept donations, grants, gifts and contributions inmoney, services or otherwise from the United States or any of itsagencies or from the state or any of its agencies in order to carry outthe purposes of this act;

      (5)   to disseminate information throughout thestate concerning the activities and programs of the conservationdistricts organized hereunder and to encourage the formation of suchdistricts in areas where their organization is desirable;

      (6)   tocooperate with and give assistance to watershed districts and otherspecial purpose districts in the state of Kansas for the purpose ofcooperating with the United States through the secretary of agriculturein the furtherance of conservation pursuant to the provisions of thewatershed protection and flood prevention act, as amended;

      (7)   to cooperatein and carry out, in accordance with state policies, activities and programsto conserve and develop the water resources of the state and maintain andimprove the quality of such water resources;

      (8)   to enlistthe cooperation and collaboration of state, federal, regional,interstate, local, public and private agencies with the conservationdistricts; and

      (9)   to facilitate arrangements under which conservationdistricts may serve county governing bodies and other agencies as theirlocal operating agencies in the administration of any activity concernedwith the conservation of natural resources.

      History:   L. 1937, ch. 5, § 4; L. 1951, ch. 11, § 1; L. 1959,ch. 5, § 1; L. 1972, ch. 5, § 3; L. 1974, ch. 348, § 3; L. 1979,ch. 6, § 2;L. 1989, ch. 5, § 1;L. 1992, ch. 116, § 23;L. 2001, ch. 86, § 3; April 12.