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Committee advances bill allowing counties to dissolve fire districts with no territory
Summary
The Committee on Local Government took final action on HB 2,624, which would let a county commission disorganize a fire district that contains no territory rather than wait for a landowner petition. Proponents said the change fixes a statutory gap left when municipal boundary changes leave a district as a legal "shell."
A committee advanced House Bill 2,624 on a motion for emergency final action, a measure aimed at allowing county governments to dissolve fire districts that no longer contain any territory.
The bill, described by the committee revisor, would amend KSA 19‑3604 to permit a board of county commissioners to adopt a resolution disorganizing a fire district if the district "contains no territory," a situation that leaves no landowners able to satisfy the current 60% petition requirement. The revisor said the change would take effect July 1 if enacted.
Proponents told the committee the change responds to a narrow but real problem. Representative Tim Johnson said Leavenworth County ended up with a district that "exists on paper only" after townships and a municipality withdrew land under existing statutes. Roger Mars, deputy county counselor for Leavenworth County, said the bill would let a county "dissolve the remaining legal shell of a district and then put that out for the publication and follow the rest of the requirements under the statutory scheme for the disorganization of a fire district."
Mars and Johnson said the proposal is limited in scope and intended to resolve the practical problem that a four‑year waiting period and a 60% landowner petition requirement cannot be met when there is no territory to which the petition applies.
Committee Vice Chair moved to take emergency final action and place the bill on the consent calendar; the motion was seconded by Representative Collins. The transcript records a vocal "aye" and the chair declaring the motion passed; the committee did not record a full roll call in the hearing transcript.
Next steps: The bill was placed on the committee’s consent calendar for floor consideration. The committee did not take other amendments during the hearing.
