19-4603. County hospitals, procedure to establish; petition and election; bonds; dissolution of certain districts; detachment of territory from certain districts. Any county, except a county having within its boundaries any territory of a hospital district operating and maintaining a hospital under K.S.A. 80-2501 to 80-2533, inclusive, and amendments thereto, may establish a hospital in the following manner:

The commission may, and upon being presented with a petition signed by not less than 5% of the qualified electors of the county requesting the establishment and maintenance of a hospital shall, adopt a resolution authorizing the issuance of general obligation bonds for the purpose of constructing, purchasing, leasing or otherwise acquiring a hospital building or buildings, equipping the same, and acquiring the necessary site or sites therefor, or for any or all such purposes and for the purpose of paying a portion of the principal and interest on bonds issued under the authority of K.S.A. 12-1774, and amendments thereto. Prior to the issuance of such bonds, the question of issuing the same shall be submitted to a vote of the qualified electors of the county at a regular county primary or county general election or, if no regular county election is to be held within six months from the date of adoption of the resolution, at a special election called for the purpose of submitting such question, and no bonds shall be issued until a majority of the qualified electors voting on the question at such election vote in favor of the issuance of such bonds. The election shall be held at the usual places in such county for electing county officers and the vote shall be canvassed in the same manner as that for county officers. Such question shall not be submitted to the electors of the county at any election more than once in any one year. All general obligation bonds authorized by this section shall be issued, registered and sold in the manner provided by article 1 of chapter 10 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and acts amendatory of the provisions thereof and supplemental thereto, and shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed the maximum rate prescribed by K.S.A. 10-1009, and amendments thereto. None of the debt limitations provided by law shall apply to bonds issued under this section.

In a county having within its boundaries territory of an existing hospital district or districts operating and maintaining a hospital under K.S.A. 80-2501 to 80-2533, inclusive, and amendments thereto, the provisions of this paragraph shall apply in establishing and maintaining a county hospital. If the entire territory of the hospital district is located within the boundary of the county and if a majority of the qualified electors who reside within the boundary of the hospital district vote to dissolve the district and to be a part of the county hospital should it be established within a period of two years from the date of such election, the hospital district shall be dissolved on the second December 31 following the date of the order of the board of county commissioners establishing the county hospital. If part of the territory of the hospital district is located within the boundary of the county and part is not and if a majority of the qualified electors who reside within that part of the hospital district which is located within the county vote to detach from the hospital district and to be a part of the county hospital should it be established within a period of two years from the date of such election, the part of the hospital district located within such county shall be detached from the remainder of the hospital district on the second December 31 following the date of the order of the board of county commissioners establishing the county hospital. An election under this section shall be called by the board of county commissioners and shall be noticed and governed in all respects and the results declared in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 10-120, and amendments thereto. The territory of any hospital district dissolved or any territory detached from a hospital district under this paragraph shall be liable for payment of outstanding bonds of indebtedness of the district hospital or hospitals as may have been issued during the period of time such territory was attached to the district hospital or hospitals. If such hospital district authorized the issuance of bonds at a special election, the election shall be in no way affected by the passage of this act, and the bonds authorized at the election may be legally issued notwithstanding the detachment of any portion of the territory of a hospital district which was included at the date of the bond election.

History: L. 1984, ch. 98, § 3; July 1.