49-512. Same; creation of state public trust; trustees; compensation; bylaws; audit; reporting; conveyance, assignment and transfer of property; liability; abolition date. (a) A state public trust shall be created to administer relocation assistance pursuant to this act and to acquire, hold and dispose of property as specified in this act.

(b) The trust shall have five trustees appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the senate as provided by K.S.A. 75-4315b, and amendments thereto. Except as provided by K.S.A. 46-2601, and amendments thereto, no person appointed as trustee shall exercise any power, duty or function as a trustee until confirmed by the senate. The terms of trustees first appointed shall be as follows: One trustee shall serve for a term expiring the first March 15 following appointment, one for a term expiring the second March 15 following appointment, one for a term expiring the third March 15 following appointment and two for terms expiring the fourth March 15 following appointment. Thereafter, trustees shall be appointed for terms of four years and until their successors are appointed and confirmed. Whenever a vacancy on the trust occurs, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment and the appointee shall hold office for the unexpired term. Each trustee shall hold office until a successor has been appointed and confirmed. A trustee may be removed only for cause.

(c) The trustees, who shall be deemed public officers, shall be paid amounts from funds of the trust for per diem compensation as provided in K.S.A. 75-3212, and amendments thereto, for members of the legislature, for each day of actual attendance at any meeting of the trust.

(d) Every person becoming a trustee first shall take the oath of office required of a state elected official. The oath of office shall be administered by a person authorized to administer oaths in the state of Kansas and shall be filed with the secretary of state.

(e) Every officer and employee who handles funds of the trust shall furnish bond or other good and sufficient security in an amount and upon such terms as established by the state committee on surety bonds and insurance pursuant to K.S.A. 75-4101 et seq., and amendments thereto, but in no event shall any bond or other security be required of a trustee. The cost of the bond shall be paid from funds of the trust.

(f) The trustees shall adopt bylaws for the administration and regulation of the affairs of the trust. All such bylaws shall be submitted in writing to the governor and must be approved by the governor before taking effect.

(g) The trustees shall cause an audit to be made of the financial statements of the trust within 30 days after the close of each fiscal year of the trust. The expense of the audit shall be paid from funds of the trust. The trust annually shall file with the governor and the legislature copies of financial documents and reports sufficient to demonstrate the fiscal activity of the trust, including, but not limited to, budgets, financial reports and audits. Amendments to the adopted budget shall be approved by the trustees of the trust and recorded as such in the official minutes of the trust.

(h) Meetings of the trustees shall be subject to the open meetings law. Records of the trust and minutes of meetings of the trust shall be written and kept in a place, the location of which shall be recorded in the office of the secretary of state, and shall be subject to the Kansas open records act. The trust shall file a monthly report of all expenditures with the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate.

(i) Any real or personal property may be acquired and held in the name of the trust. When acquired, any conveyance, assignment or other transfer shall be made in the name of the trust by the chairperson of the trust, attested by the secretary of the trust, with the seal of the trust affixed thereto.

(j) Any conveyance, assignment or other transfer of any estate in real property, executed by a trust, must be acknowledged by the president or chairperson of the trust subscribing the name of the trust thereto, which acknowledgment shall be in substantially the form provided in the uniform law on notarial acts. Any instrument of conveyance, assignment or other transfer executed in the name of the trust pursuant to this act and bearing a signature which purports to be the signature of the chairperson of the trust, shall be deemed prima facie evidence that the conveyance, assignment or other transfer is the act of the trust and the trustees thereof, that it was duly executed and signed by the chairperson of the trust who was a trustee of the trust and that the instrument conforms in all respects to the requirements of law, and such conveyance, assignment or other transfer shall be admissible in evidence without further proof of execution.

(k) The trust shall not engage in any activity or transaction that is not expressly authorized by this act.

(l) No trustee shall be charged personally with any liability whatsoever by reason of any act or omission in the performance of the trust or in the operation of the trust property but any act, liability for any omission or obligation of a trustee or trustees, in the execution of the trust, or in the operation of the trust property, shall extend to the whole of the trust, or so much thereof as may be necessary to discharge such liability or obligation, and not otherwise.

(m) Moneys from grants made to the trust pursuant to this act shall be used only for the purposes provided by this act, including payment of the costs of the department of health and environment in implementing and administering this act.

(n) On July 1, 2014, or on the date that all of the rights and title to all real and personal property acquired by the trust have been conveyed, assigned or otherwise transferred in the name of the trust pursuant to K.S.A. 2018 Supp. 49-511 through 49-517, and amendments thereto, and the instruments of conveyance, assignment or other transfer have been finally executed, whichever date occurs first, the trust is hereby abolished and the office of each member of the trust is hereby abolished.

History: L. 2007, ch. 17, § 2; L. 2010, ch. 76, § 1; Apr. 15.