525 N. Main #315 ▪ Wichita, KS 67203 ▪ Tel: (316) 660-9370
Marv Duncan or
Kristi
Zukovich
2012 Legislative Platform
Legislative Priorities
Legislative priorities are issues of primary importance to Sedgwick County and may involve the county introducing legislation and/or taking the lead on guiding such legislation through the legislative process. The following are the legislative priorities for Sedgwick County for the 2010 legislative session.
Click here for a printable version of the 2012 legislative platform.
Legislative Session Weekly Activities
Week 4, January 30 - February 3
A - Transportation
A1 - Affordable Airfares for Kansas. Low cost airfares are vitally important to business travelers, and the absence of low airfares is a significant impediment to economic growth. Since 2006 the Legislature has appropriated $5-million annually to be awarded on a competitive basis to local communities for use in obtaining low-fare commercial air service. An analysis conducted in 2011 by the Division of Legislative Post Audit concluded the State has received about $2.32 for each $1 allocated by the Legislature. The Post Audit report also concluded that “the program appears to have the desired effect…fares have decreased while passengers and flights have increased.” Sedgwick County supports the continued funding of the Affordable Airfares Program. (Chris Chronis/CFO, ext. 7130; Mike Pepoon/County Counselor ext. 9340)
A2 - Support maintaining Special City/County Highway Fund.
B - Economic Development
B1 - Preserving Sedgwick County’s Statewide
Homeownership Program. The Counties of Sedgwick and
B2 - KSA 58-2309a.
This legislation deals with proper public notification of
assignments and releases and is being added to Sedgwick County’s platform and
sponsored by the Register of Deeds Association and the Kansas County Officials
Association. This legislation simply makes it a requirement that a paper
trail be maintained for assignments and releases therefore protecting the
homeowner and banks from confusion from who has the authority to assign or
release. (William Meek/Register of Deeds, ext.
9422)
C - Public Safety
C1 - Kansas State Judicial District Courts. It is in the best interest of the safety and
wellbeing of Sedgwick County for the Kansas State judicial budget to be fully
funded. Sufficiently funded judiciary
is vital to the timely administration of justice important to both defendants
and taxpayers alike.
(Judge James Fleetwood, ext. 5611, Ellen
House, Court Administrator, 660-5810)
C2 - Bonding Process.
Sedgwick County opposes any statutory changes that abridge
judicial discretion, adds delays or requires additional hearings to the process
of establishing own recognizance (OR) bonds.
The bonding system assures defendants reliably show up in court; it is
not designed to impose unwarranted financial or custody burdens on citizens.
Sedgwick County believes that the current process effectively achieves these
purposes in a timely manner without creating additional expense for taxpayer.
(Bob Lamkey/Public Safety, ext 4955; Judge James
Fleetwood, ext. 5611, Ellen House, Court Administrator, 660-5810)
C3 - Kansas State Judicial District Courts – Public
Defender.
To assure
fair, equitable and timely due process and to avoid adding to jail overcrowding,
C4
- Jail Population and State Prisoners in County Jails.
Sedgwick County has a significant jail population, resulting in a crowded
local facility and wide use of contracted out of County beds. In order to
promote a safe environment, provide positive incentives for good inmate behavior
and safely and judiciously provide overcrowding relief,
In addition, historically, felons served their sentences
with the Kansas Department of Corrections; however, state laws have been
modified in recent years to move convicted felons to county jails. We support
state funding to reimburse counties for the entire cost of housing convicted
felons. Further, the state should keep accurate records of the number of felons
in county jails and make such information available to the public.
(Bob
Lamkey/Public Safety, ext 4955; Richard Powell/Sheriff, ext 3900)
C5 - Support Restoration of
Juvenile Justice Prevention Funding.
The Juvenile Justice system is a state
and local government partnership that shifts service delivery for certain
juvenile offenders away from state institutions to communities. Sedgwick County
supports comprehensive community-based services as envisioned in the original
Juvenile Justice Reform Act. Large
funding reductions for prevention the last two years has resulted in closure of
necessary early intervention services that provide mentoring, truancy and
juvenile offender diversion. Funding
for prevention programs provide less costly and effective interventions and
should be restored. (Mark
Masterson/Corrections, ext. 7014)
C6 - Funding for Community
Corrections Adult Residential Centers.
C7 - Dealing with non-violent, low
level offenders with underlying mental health needs. Current Kansas
Statues offer law enforcement officers limited choices in dealing with
individuals who have transgressed the law as a result of a mental health crisis
and cannot safely be released on their own recognizance. They may be either
taken to jail or a hospital facility suitable for mental health evaluation and
stabilization. Sedgwick County has established a County operated program to
evaluate and stabilize non-violent, low-level offenders with underlying mental
health needs and connect them with case management, medications and other
treatment. These are individuals
who generally present aberrant or nuisance behavior to the public. Currently,
officers must book such individuals into the jail in order to get access to such
services. Sedgwick County will be seeking legislation to allow officers an added
option to take certain offenders directly to a mental health alternative program
and avoid the jail booking and housing process. Our intent is to reduce demand
on law enforcement and jail resources while finding a more appropriate and
effective manner to deal with those experiencing a mental health crisis. (Bob
Lamkey/Public Safety, ext 4955; Richard Powell/Sheriff, ext 3900; Jason
Scheck/Crisis Intervention, ext 7517)
C8 - Special Kansas Public Employees Retirement System (KPERS) Fund for
Detention Officers.
C9 - Offender
Registration.
C10 - Driving Under the Influence
(DUI)
Laws.
C11 - Send All Felons to State Prisons.
Sedgwick County supports legislative action that remands all
convicted felony offenders to the Kansas Department of Corrections and opposes
legislative legislation that results in convicted felons serving sentences in
local jails.
(Robert Lamkey/Public Safety, ext. 4955)
C12 - Oppose Consolidation of Correctional Field Services.
C13 - Support for Conceal Carry in State and Local Buildings.
Sedgwick County supports state legislation that creates a uniform set of
rules for the state instead of a variety of laws from one location to another
location. Concealed carry should be allowed in as many local government
facilities as possible as well as state government buildings.
(Richard Ranzau, Commissioner ext. 9300)
D - General Government
General:
D1 - Eminent Domain.
D2 - Annexation.
In 2011, the Legislature amended
the annexation statutes to require cities to send a copy of the service plan for
unilateral annexations to the county commission not less than ten days before
the city’s public hearing. Sedgwick County would support requiring the city
provide the county commission more time to review and comment on the service
plan by requiring the city send the service plan to the county commission by
certified mail not more than ten days after the adoption of the resolution
required by K.S.A. 12-520a setting the city’s public hearing date, which must be
not less than sixty nor more than seventy days after the adoption of the
resolution. This change would be consistent with K.S.A. 12-520a(d)(1), which
requires the city send the county commission a copy of the annexation resolution
not more than ten days following the adoption of the resolution.
(Robert Parnacott/County Counselor, ext. 9340; David
Spears/Public Works, ext. 383-7901)
D3 - Support County Home Rule.
D4 - Support Maintaining Open Government.
D5 - Government Records Preservation Act. Sedgwick County supports revising K.S.A. 45-501(c) eliminating the requirement to report instances of county records that are made and/or maintained only in electronic formats to the State Records Board. The State Records Board has no review authority, nor was the Board even aware of a need for a reporting procedure until Sedgwick County staff asked how to comply. (Doug King/DIO, ext 9846)
D6 - Support Maintaining Exemptions in Open Meeting Laws.
D7 - Oppose Unfunded State Mandates.
D8 - Oppose Restrictions on County Management of Right-of Ways.
Local government should not be restricted from managing public
rights-of-way in its best interest and for the protection of its citizens.
Taxes:
D9 - County Sales Tax.
D10 - KSA 79-3101. Confusion exists between the Register of Deeds and the lending associations due to a term in this piece of legislation. The term is “principal indebtedness covered or included in a previously recorded mortgage or other instrument with the same lender or their assigns upon which the registration fee herein provided for has been paid.” This term is not defined in the statute. The Register of Deeds Association is promoting this legislation to define that term and the term: “same indebtedness, where the registration fee herein provided for has been paid on the original mortgage or instrument.” The indebtedness must be verified by affidavit or established by supporting documentation to be: (1) between the same lender or its assigns and the same borrowers or their assigns; (2) arising out of the same promissory note or other instrument evidencing the borrowers’ obligation; and (3) secured by the same legal description in the original mortgage or other instrument. (William Meek/Register of Deeds, ext. 9422)
D11 - Delinquent Tax Recovery (personal property).
Sedgwick County
supports legislative action that would allow for additional options to collect
personal property delinquent taxes.
Sedgwick County supports legislation that gives the county the authority to hire
attorneys or other persons to assist the county in collection of personal
property taxes remaining unpaid from and after the date the same became a
judgment. The fees and charges of
said attorney or other person shall be in addition to the taxes collected and
the personal property owner shall be solely liable for the payment of such fees
and charges; but in no event shall the fees and charges for such collection
exceed the sum of 50% of the amount collected.
Any taxes collected shall be credited ratably to the funds for which such
taxes were levied. In addition, the
county would also support legislation that whenever the aggregate amount of tax
owed upon tangible personal property by any taxpayer is less than $10.00, such
tax shall be cancelled and no personal property tax statement shall be issued.
(Linda Kizzire/County Treasurer,
ext.9127; Richard Euson/County
Counselor, ext. 9340)
D12 - Delinquent Tax Recovery (real property).
Sedgwick County supports legislative action that would allow for
additional options to collect real property delinquent taxes. In addition, the
county would also support legislation that whenever the aggregate amount of tax
owed upon real personal property by any taxpayer is less than $10.00, such tax
shall be cancelled and no personal property tax statement shall be issued.
(Linda Kizzire/County Treasurer,
ext.9127; Richard Euson/County
Counselor, ext. 9340)
D13 - Tax Increment Financing (TIF).
D14 – County Property Tax Uses.
Authority for decisions about the use of county property taxes to
support economic and community development projects should be vested exclusively
in the Board of County Commissioners. Current laws allow city governing
bodies to approve the abatement or exemption of county property taxes on
businesses and the diversion of county property taxes to municipal projects in
tax increment or tax decrement districts. In the case of tax increment
and decrement districts, the laws give counties veto authority over the creation
of the districts, but counties must exercise this authority without knowing how
much county property tax will be diverted, or for what purpose. Sedgwick
County supports legislation that will allow cities to pursue their economic and
community development projects using city property taxes, but will give county
elected officials the ability to control the use of property taxes they levy.
(Chris
Chronis/CFO, ext. 7130)
Environmental:
D15 - Solid Waste Management.
E – Health and Human Services
Health Care:
E1 - Support Maternal Child Health Initiatives by Local Health Departments. Sedgwick County supports efforts and funding that improve the health of expectant mothers and their babies. (Sonja Armbruster ext. 7335; Claudia Blackburn/Health, ext. 7339)
E2 - Support Local Measures to Increase
Access to Healthcare. Sedgwick County
supports policies and programs that increase local access to medical, dental and
mental healthcare. (Sonja Armbruster ext. 7335;
Claudia Blackburn/Health, ext. 7339)
Mental Health:
E3 - Advocate for a Sufficient Number of
State Hospital Beds. The state hospital (
E4 - Support Restoration of Cuts to Mental
Health Reform Funding. The
Mental Health Reform grants allow the Community Mental Health Center (CMHC) to
serve the uninsured and underinsured who don’t qualify for Medicaid or who don’t
have resources to pay for the mental health services they receive.
Without appropriate treatment, many could end up in contact with law
enforcement, in jails or hospital emergency rooms.
The state budget cuts are putting the
state CMHC system at a breaking point. (Marilyn
Cook/COMCARE ext. 7665; Deborah Donaldson/Human Services, ext. 7671)
Developmental Disabilities:
E5 - Support State Funding for Intellectually and/or
Developmentally Disabled Citizens with Challenging Behaviors.
More than 2,000 people in
(
Aging:
E6
- Support Continued Full Funding of Home and Community Based Services for
the Frail Elderly (HCBS-FE) waiver in FY 2011 and FY 2012. The HCBS-FE waiver program prevents the premature
institutionalization of
E7 - Support Full Funding of the
Senior Care Act. This program provides in-home services for seniors age
60 and older who meet the qualifications for nursing home level of care but
choose to remain in the community. This service assists seniors to remain in the
community and delay or prevent premature institutionalization.
(Annette Graham/Aging, ext. 5221; Deborah
Donaldson/Human Services, ext. 7671)
F - Core Principles
Core principles are policy
statements and philosophical positions that the County takes to address a
variety of issues that may or may not be raised in the 2012 Legislative Session.
Legislation regarding some of these policy statements or issues may end
up becoming a priority issue for
F1 - Support Continued State Funding for Essential County Services.
Each year, the State of
F2 - Sedgwick County Health
Department. The Sedgwick
County Health Department relies upon funding administered through the Kansas
Department of Health and Environment to support critical public health
infrastructure to improve the health of Sedgwick County residents by preventing
disease, promoting wellness and protecting the public from health threats.
(Sonja Armbruster ext. 7335; Claudia
Blackburn/Health, ext. 7339)
F3 - Developmental Disability Services.
Currently, a statewide waiting list of nearly 4,000 exists for access to
developmental disability services and nearly 1,000 of those individuals are from
Sedgwick County. This list is divided into two categories: “un-served,” those
who currently receive no services, and “underserved,” those who receive at least
one service but need additional services. Sufficient funding to meet the needs
of waiting individuals continues to be a primary concern for
F4 -
Community Mental Health Services.
§ Ensuring access to state and local psychiatric inpatient resources to meet the demand for the mentally ill in Kansas. This can be done by developing a system of regional state operated inpatient units where inpatient care can be provided close to the consumer’s home community.
§
Securing necessary state general fund money to
improve access to mental health services.
(Marilyn Cook/COMCARE ext.
7665; Deborah Donaldson/Human Services, ext. 7671)
F5 - Aging Services.
Programs are funded by state money that provides services to older adults
in their homes. These include: Home and Community Based Services/Frail Elderly
Waiver program and the Senior Care Act program.
These programs result in considerable cost savings to the taxpayers of
the State of
F6 - Local Authority and
Accountability vs. State Authority and Accountability.
As the public officials closest to the voters, local governing bodies are
in the best position to respond to changing conditions that may dictate new or
different public services and funding strategies.
The State’s one-size-fits-all approach to defining local responsibilities
and funding models has not recognized differences that exist among local
communities in the needs for service and the ability to pay for them with the
existing narrow range of authorized local funding sources.
Local elected officials are willing to be held accountable for their
actions, but the current state governance model dictates that many if not most
of their actions are non-discretionary:
either the service is dictated by the State or the available funding
sources are limited by the State. At
the same time, too often the State has required local governments to provide
specified services without providing the resources with which to do so.
F7 - Tax Equity.
Sedgwick County supports an objective, equitable revision of the ad valorem,
sales and use tax systems that will ensure all who benefit from public services
pay a fair share of the taxes that fund those services.
(Chris Chronis/CFO, ext. 7130)
F8 - Support Veterans and
Their Families.
Sedgwick County is supportive of
positive endeavors that support veterans and their families, including the
Sedgwick County for Veterans Coalition, veterans’ driver’s license designation,
and the Education Center at the Vietnam Wall project for Sedgwick County
soldiers.
(Deborah Donaldson/Human Services, ext. 7671;
Valarie Florio/Human Services, ext 7693)
F9 -
KPERS Retirement Options. Sedgwick
County supports a broader set of retirement options such as defined contribution
and hybrid plans which offer eligible employees electives for tailoring their
retirement plan needs.
(William
Buchanan, County Manager, ext 9393)
F10 – Support of Free-Market Capitalism.
Sedgwick County supports free-market capitalism
as the proper mechanism for job and wealth creation.
We support a low tax and market friendly
regulatory environment for everyone.
(Richard Ranzau, Commissioner, ext 9300)
F11 – Opposition to Affordable Health Care Act.
Sedgwick
County supports the State’s efforts to fight the implementation of the
Affordable Health Care Act. We
recognize the significant cost to businesses and the negative impact this
legislation has on job creation. We
encourage the State to utilize all options and available resources to oppose
implementation of this law.
(Richard Ranzau, Commissioner, ext 9300)
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