24-459. Directors; election; term; eligible voters.
(a) The board of directors of any drainage district incorporated pursuant to K.S.A. 24-458, and amendments thereto, shall consist of three qualified persons as defined in subsection (e)(3).
(b) The directors for the first term after the incorporation of the drainage district shall be selected and designated in the petition for the incorporation of the district and shall be declared directors by the county commissioners to which the petition is presented.
(c) The directors shall hold office until the second Monday in January of the next even-numbered year after the incorporation of the district, at which time and every four years thereafter directors shall be elected at the November odd-year elections and shall hold their office for the term of four years and until their successors are elected and qualified.
(d) Every qualified person of the district shall be entitled to vote at the election or at any election which may be held in the district.
(e) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Owner" or "person who owns land" means any person or entity who is the record owner of the fee in any real estate in the district or the fee in the surface rights of any real estate in the district, but the owners of an oil and gas lease, mineral rights or interest, easements or mortgages as such shall not be considered owners, and school districts, cemetery associations, and municipal corporations shall not be considered owners.
(2) "Taxpayer" means any owner who has paid all taxes currently due on such real estate.
(3) "Qualified person" means any taxpayer 18 years of age or older, whether a resident of the district or not. A taxpayer who is a qualified person and who is not an individual may designate an individual to cast its vote or to serve as a director of the district.
(f) The county clerk shall determine the qualified persons entitled to vote at any election in the district. Any entity desiring to vote at an election shall register the name of its designated representative with the county election officer no later than 21 days in advance of any such election.
History: L. 1911, ch. 173, § 2; R.S. 1923, 24-459; L. 1927, ch. 198, § 1; L. 1983, ch. 118, § 9; L. 2004, ch. 161, § 2; L. 2015, ch. 88, § 26; July 1.