----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 9  AN ACT concerning township fire districts; relating to the reorganization
10    thereof; amending K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 80-1501 and repealing the ex-
11    isting section.
12
13  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
14    Section 1.  K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 80-1501 is hereby amended to read as
15  follows: 80-1501. (a) Any township or county may join with a municipality
16  in the maintenance of a fire department for the prevention and fighting
17  of fires within their boundaries. The cost of equipment and maintenance,
18  the payment of compensation to firefighters, the rent or purchase of
19  buildings shall be paid in such proportion as agreed upon by the parties.
20  The supervision and control of the department shall be with the governing
21  body of the municipality if the municipality joins with a township or
22  county. The fire department members may be paid or may be volunteers
23  and shall be subject to such rules and regulations as the municipalities
24  adopt. Such departments, when organized, may incorporate as firefight-
25  ers' relief associations, and such associations shall come within the pur-
26  view and be subject to the provisions of and entitled to the rights under
27  article 17, chapter 40, of the Kansas Statutes Annotated and amendments
28  thereto.
29    (b)  When a municipality and a township join, the agreements shall
30  be entered into by the municipality by ordinance and by the township or
31  county by resolution, and the agreement as set out in the ordinance and
32  resolution shall be signed by the mayor of the city and attested by the
33  city clerk and, in the case of a township shall be signed by the township
34  trustee and attested by the township clerk and, in the case of a county
35  shall be signed by the chairperson of the board of county commissioners
36  and attested by the county clerk. The agreement shall state the amount
37  each party shall contribute, the rules and regulations governing the de-
38  partment, and such other matter as may be necessary to fully set out the
39  duties and responsibilities of the parties, and the agreement may be
40  amended or changed or added to by mutual agreement of the parties in
41  the same manner as that in which the original contract was entered into.
42  Such agreement may be terminated if one party passes or adopts an or-
43  dinance or resolution declaring its intention to carry out the agreement
HB 2338
                                     

 1  no longer. When an agreement is terminated, one party may pay the other
 2  for its share of the equipment or apparatus or the apparatus may be sold.
 3  Any money in the treasury shall be divided pro rata as it was paid in. No
 4  election shall be required to authorize the township board, board of
 5  county commissioners or governing body of any municipality to enter into
 6  such agreement, but the township board, board of county commissioners
 7  or governing body of a municipality shall have the power to decide
 8  whether to enter into such contract.
 9    (c)  The governing body of any joint fire department created pursuant
10  to this section may reorganize itself as a consolidated fire district in the
11  manner provided for the consolidation of fire districts pursuant to K.S.A.
12  1996 Supp. 12-3901 et seq., and amendments thereto.
13    Sec. 2.  K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 80-1501 is hereby repealed.
14    Sec. 3.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
15  publication in the statute book.