Ethics Opinion Search

April 24, 1997


Opinion No. 1997-16


Patricia A. Rahija
Wyandotte County Election Commissioner
9400 State Avenue
Kansas City, Kansas 66112-1588

Dear Ms. Rahija:

This opinion is in response to your letter of April 14, 1997, in which you
request an opinion from the Kansas Commission on Governmental Standards and
Conduct concerning the Kansas Campaign Finance Act (K.S.A. 25-4142 et
seq.). We note at the outset that the Commission's jurisdiction is
limited to the application of K.S.A. 25-4142 et seq., and whether some
other statutory system, common law theory or agency rule and regulation
applies to your inquiry is not covered by this opinion.

FACTUAL STATEMENT

We understand you request this opinion in your capacity as the Wyandotte
County Election Commissioner. You advise us that a consolidation plan was
drafted by the Wyandotte County/Kansas City Consolidation Study Commission,
and approved by the voters in that county on April 1, 1997. This plan
would consolidate several of the Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County
governmental offices. The new system would be called the Unified
Government, and would include one Chief Executive/Mayor and ten members of
the Board of Commissioners.

Individuals interested in running for these eleven positions must file for
candidacy by May 13, 1997. The candidates will then run for office and be
elected during a Special Primary Election on July 8, 1997, and a Special
General Election on September 9, 1997.

You have also provided us with your proposed plan for holding these special
elections, the Consolidation Study Commission's recommendations to the
Governor and legislature and a letter from the Consolidation Study
Commission to the Governor.

QUESTION

Based on this factual statement, you ask us the following questions:


Opinion No. 97-16
April 24, 1997
Page 2



1. What contribution limitations, if any, are there for the Unified
Government races?

2. Will individuals who had previous candidate bank accounts be required
to close those accounts and open new ones for the Unified Government races?

OPINION

We first note that for the Kansas Campaign Finance Act (K.S.A. 25-4142 et
seq.) to apply to the Unified Government races, those positions must either
be for a "state office" or "local office" as those terms are defined in
K.S.A. 25-4143. K.S.A. 25-4143(k) defines "state office" as "any state
office defined by K.S.A. 25-2505 and amendments thereto". While that
statute is beyond the jurisdiction of this Commission, clearly it does not
apply to Unified Government races.

K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 25-4143(n) defines "local office" in pertinent part as
the following:

"...a member of the governing body of a city of the first class,
any elected office of a unified school district having 35,000 or
more pupils regularly enrolled in the preceding school year, a
county or of the board of public utilities."

In reviewing the materials you have provided us, it appears that the
Unified Government is to oversee the governmental operation of Wyandotte
County. In addition, the Consolidation Study Commission used the general
election laws applicable to county elections as a basis for the Unified
Government Special Elections. Therefore, this Commission believes that the
Chief Executive/Mayor and Board of Commissioners are "members of the
governing body of a county", and are thereby seeking a "local office".
Thus, the Kansas Campaign Finance Act applies to individuals who become
candidates for those positions.

With this initial determination in mind, we turn to your first question.
K.S.A. 25-4153(a) in pertinent part states:

"The aggregate amount contributed to a candidate and such candidate's
candidate committee and to all party committees and political
committees and dedicated to such candidate's campaign, by any
political committee or any person except a party committee, the

Opinion No. 97-16
April 24, 1997
Page 3



candidate or the candidate's spouse, shall not exceed the
following:

...(2) for the office of...candidate for local office, $500 for
each primary election...and an equal amount for each general
election...."

In applying this subsection to your question, because this is a new
election, separate and apart from the recent city election, each candidate
running for a Unified Government position would be permitted to receive a
maximum of $500 from each contributor in the Special Primary Election
period, and another $500 from each contributor in the Special General
Election period.

Turning to your second question, candidates seeking these positions must
file the appointment of treasurer or candidate committee form (K.S.A. 25-
4144) and pay the $30.00 candidate report fee (K.S.A. 1996 Supp. 25-
4119f(3)). If the candidates have previous campaign accounts open, they
may terminate those accounts and transfer the balance to the new campaign
accounts as provided in K.S.A. 25-4157.

In closing, we do note that each candidate will be required to file either
an affidavit of intent to expend and receive less than $500 (K.S.A. 25-
4173) or file the appropriate receipts and expenditures reports (K.S.A. 25-
4148) on the dates specified by those particular statutes.

Sincerely,



Diane Gaede, Chairwoman

By Direction of the Commission

DG:WCS:dlw