Effective 28 Aug 1985

70.327. Kansas-Missouri flood prevention and control compact. — The state of Missouri hereby agrees with the state of Kansas, upon enactment by the state of Kansas of legislation having the same effect as this section, to the following compact:

KANSAS-MISSOURI FLOOD PREVENTION AND CONTROL COMPACT

ARTICLE I. SHORT TITLE

1.1. This compact shall be known and may be cited as the "Kansas-Missouri Flood Prevention and Control Compact".

ARTICLE II. PURPOSES

2.1. It is recognized that destructive floods occur in certain rivers which affect disastrously both of the party states by upsetting orderly processes, causing loss of life and property, the erosion of lands, impairing and obstructing farming and commercial operations, navigation, highways and railroads, and constitute a common menace to the states. The prevention and control of floods in these areas are public purposes of the party states. A single agency is essential for effective and economical direction, supervision and coordination of examination of needs and planning for flood prevention and control in these common areas. For these purposes the party states do hereby establish the Kansas-Missouri Flood Prevention and Control Commission. The commission shall have jurisdiction hereunder with respect to flood prevention and control in the district comprising the following counties of Kansas and Missouri: Johnson, Wyandotte and Atchison counties in Kansas; Jackson, Clay, Platte, and Buchanan counties in Missouri.

ARTICLE III. ORGANIZATION OF COMMISSION

3.1. The commission shall be an interstate body, both corporate and politic serving as a common agency of the party states and representing them both collectively and individually in the exercise of its powers and duties.

3.2. The commission shall be composed of eleven members, one commissioner representing the appropriate federal agency having jurisdiction of flood prevention and control measures in the area, five commissioners from Kansas and five from Missouri, each of whom shall be a resident of such state, and at least three commissioners from each state shall be residents of the region subject to the jurisdiction of the commission hereunder. The commissioners from each state shall be qualified, chosen and appointed by each state in the manner provided by the laws of the respective states. The federal representative shall be appointed by the officer or officers having power to appoint him to the federal office he then holds. The representative of the federal government shall not be entitled to vote on any action of the commission but may attend and otherwise participate in commission meetings and may make recommendations to the commission. Each member shall hold office at the pleasure of the appointing authority. The commission shall elect a chairman from among its members.

3.3. The commission's functions shall be performed and carried out by its members, advisory committees and panels representative of citizens and political subdivisions and other governmental agencies in the compact region as may be established by the commission, and by such officers, agents and employees as may be appointed by the commission, subject to its direction and control. All such officers, agents and employees shall hold office at the pleasure of the commission, which shall prescribe their powers, duties and qualifications and fix their compensation and other terms of their employment.

3.4. A quorum of the commission for the purpose of transacting business at any commission meeting shall exist only when there are present, in person, at least three members from each of the party states. No action of the commission shall be effective or binding unless a majority of each party state's representatives who are present at the commission meeting shall vote in favor thereof. Certified copies of the minutes of each commission meeting shall be sent to each of the governors of the party states within ten days of the meeting. The vote of any one or more of the representatives from each party state may be vetoed and cancelled by the governor of such state within ten days, Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays of the particular state excepted, after receipt by the governor of the certified copy of the minutes of the meeting at which such vote was cast, the intent being to empower the governor of each party state to nullify the commission's action upon which such vote had been taken.

3.5. The members of the commission shall receive no compensation for their services pursuant to this compact but they shall be entitled to be paid the expenses actually and necessarily incurred by them in the performance of their duties.

3.6. No member of the commission who is otherwise a public officer or employee shall suffer a forfeiture of his office or employment, or any loss or diminution in the rights and privileges appertaining thereto, by reason of such membership.

ARTICLE IV. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION

4.1. The function of the commission shall be to act as an official comprehensive study and planning agency of the party states for the compact region. It shall conduct surveys, make studies, submit recommendations and prepare plans designed to aid in solving immediate and long-range joint problems of flood prevention and control, including but not limited to, soil and water erosion control and abatement, the building of sanitary and storm sewers in watersheds extending into the territorial limits of both the states, the constructing of levees along the banks of, or shortening or diverting or otherwise improving any natural watercourse to prevent its overflow where the same overflow is likely to cause damage to lands situated within the territorial limits of the party states, and may receive aid from, contract and cooperate with the United States, and with public and private corporations and with individuals owning or exercising jurisdiction over lands which are subject to injury by such overflow, or which may require such sewers.

4.2. The commission shall also act as a liaison to encourage coordination among and between all agencies and entities, governmental and private, charged with or having a substantial interest in the planning or providing of flood prevention and control measures within any part of the compact region. In furtherance of this function, the commission shall, through advisory committees or panels, provide for the representation and participation of officials of political subdivisions and other governmental agencies in the compact region in the development of policies, plans and programs and shall report to the party states on the regional implications of any development plans or programs proposed by any such agency or entity.

4.3. The commission shall have power to apply for and to receive and accept grants of property, money and services and other assistance offered or made available to it by any person, government, or agency whatever, which it may use to meet necessary expenses and for any other use within the scope of its functions, and to negotiate for the same upon such terms and conditions as may be necessary or advisable.

4.4. The commission shall have power to hire, lease, acquire and dispose of property to the extent necessary to carry out its functions, powers and duties as the same may be constituted from time to time.

4.5. Without diminution of its general power to contract, the commission shall have power to contract with any government or agency whatever, including the respective departments of the party states, for the performance of services by the commission which relate to its functions, powers and duties, and to accept compensation or reimbursement therefor.

4.6. The commission shall have power to expend, or to authorize the expenditure of, funds appropriated to it or for its purposes by the party states, but such expenditures shall at all times be within the terms of an annual budget to be adopted by the commission, by resolution, in advance of each fiscal period of the commission, which budget may be amended or modified from time to time. Each of the party states reserves the right to require such audit or audits as such state may from time to time consider proper.

4.7. To avoid duplication of effort and in the interests of economy, the commission shall make use of existing studies, surveys, plans, data and other materials in the possession of the governmental agencies of the party states and their respective political subdivisions. Each such agency is hereby authorized to make such materials available to the commission and otherwise to assist it in the performance of its functions. At the request of the commission, each such agency which is engaged in flood prevention and control planning is further authorized to provide the commission with information regarding its plans and programs affecting the compact region so that the commission may have available to it current information with respect thereto. The officers and personnel of such agencies, and of any other government or agency whatever, may serve at the request of the commission upon such advisory committees and panels as the commission shall determine to create; and such officers and personnel may serve upon such committees and panels without forfeiture of office or employment and with no loss or diminution in the status, rights and privileges which they otherwise enjoy.

ARTICLE V. COMMISSION FINANCES AND REPORTS

5.1. Subject to the availability of funds appropriated pursuant to the applicable laws of the respective party states, the cost and expense of supporting, administering and operating the activities of the commission, less any federal aid or other contributions received therefor, shall be apportioned equally among the party states and shall be paid out of appropriations made available by such party states.

5.2. The commission may accept advances from one or more of the party states or from the federal government; but it may not otherwise borrow money nor may it issue notes or bonds. It shall not incur any obligation in excess of the amounts appropriated or otherwise available to it or for its purposes and each of its expenditures shall be within the terms of the annual budget hereinbefore mentioned.

5.3. The commission is declared to be an instrumentality of the party states exercising a governmental function. It shall enjoy the sovereign immunity of the party states nor shall it have the power to pledge the credit of the party states or any of them, or to impose any liability upon them, or any one of them, directly or indirectly, either by tort, contract or otherwise.

5.4. The commission shall report annually to the governors and legislatures of the party states with respect to its operations and finances and shall provide such financial reports as shall be required from time to time under the laws of the party states.

ARTICLE VI. GENERAL PROVISIONS

6.1. For the purpose of this compact, unless the context plainly requires a different meaning:

(1) "Commission" means the Kansas-Missouri flood prevention and control commission created and established by this compact;

(2) "Compact region" means the geographical area described as follows: the counties of Johnson, Wyandotte and Atchison in Kansas, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Buchanan in Missouri;

(3) "Concurrent legislation" means a statute enacted by one of the party states which is concurred in by the other party states in the form of enactments having like effect; and

(4) "Party states" means the states of Kansas and Missouri. The area may be enlarged or reduced by concurrent legislation hereafter enacted.

6.2. This compact shall be construed liberally to effectuate its purposes. Nothing herein shall be deemed in any way to limit or restrict the power of one or more of the party states, by law or otherwise, to deal independently with respect to any matter within the scope of this compact.

6.3. The commission shall continue in existence until revoked by one or more of the party states.

6.4. Amendments and supplements to this compact to implement the purposes thereof may be adopted by concurrent legislation of the party states.

6.5. If any part or provision of this compact or the application thereof to any person or circumstance be adjudged invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall be confined in its operation to the part, provision, or application directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered and shall not affect or impair the validity of the remainder of this compact or the application thereof to other persons or circumstances, and the party states hereby declare that they would have entered into this compact or the remainder thereof had the invalidity of such provision or application thereof been apparent.

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(L. 1985 S.B. 26 § 1)