Kansas senators hear competing views on bill to add LLPs to corporate-agriculture restrictions

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 465, which would amend Kansas corporate-agriculture law to require limited liability partnerships (LLPs) to obtain county approval before establishing dairy or swine production facilities.

Tamara Lawrence, the committee's senior assistant reviser, told the committee the bill "would include limited liability partnerships in the list of entities required to obtain county approval for the establishment of any such swine or dairy facilities," and that it adds a defined term for LLPs and makes conforming statutory changes. She also noted a typographical omission in the bill text on page 10 (missing the words "by a" between "county" and "corporation").

Kathy Sharplaz, a resident of Ottawa County and a proponent of the bill, said an Attorney General opinion connected to an Ottawa County matter exposed an omission in the statutes that has left LLPs in a legal limbo. "That loophole needs to be closed and Senate Bill 465 will do that," Sharplaz said, arguing LLPs do not meet the statutory "family-farm" definition and that treating them as exempt would deprive counties of a decision the legislature expressly reserved to them.

Opponents included John Donnelly of the Kansas Farm Bureau and Aaron Popelka, vice president for legal and governmental affairs at the Kansas Livestock Association. Donnelly suggested the Corporate Farm Act and related restrictions may be vulnerable to challenge under the dormant commerce clause and warned that SB 465 could "make a likely unconstitutional law even more unconstitutional." Popelka said the bill's prohibitions are broader than dairy and swine — "it is not just livestock; it is all agricultural land," he said — and cautioned the measure could be retroactive with no grandfather clause for existing entities.

Committee members pressed witnesses on the statute history and on how common LLPs are in agriculture. Sharplaz said LLPs have traditionally been rare in farming and often serve professional partnerships, but acknowledged at least one agricultural LLP operating in Ottawa County. Donnelly and Popelka urged caution, noting prior legal reviews and the potential for litigation if enforcement increased.

The committee closed the hearing on SB 465 without a committee vote and moved on to other business. The chair directed staff to provide statutory references and written materials the committee requested during testimony.