In re Stephan

836 P.2d 574, 251 Kan. 597, 1992 Kan. LEXIS 128
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJuly 10, 1992
DocketNo. 68,089
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 836 P.2d 574 (In re Stephan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Stephan, 836 P.2d 574, 251 Kan. 597, 1992 Kan. LEXIS 128 (kan 1992).

Opinion

Per Curiam:

This is an original action commenced by Robert T. Stephan, the attorney general of the State of Kansas, to determine the validity of House Bill No. 3083, enacted during the 1992 session of the Kansas Legislature. The bill reapportions the state representative and senatorial districts and repeals the statutes that formerly established such districts. On June 4, 1992, we announced our decision in this case in accordance with the mandate of Article 10, § 1 of the Kansas Constitution that this court enter judgment concerning the validity of the reapportionment legislation within 30 days of the filing of the attorney general’s petition. We held that the legislation was valid and. stated a formal opinion setting forth the views of this court would follow. See In Re House Bill No. 3083, 251 Kan. 595, 833 P.2d 1017 (1992). For the reasons stated in this opinion, we find House Bill No. 3083 valid legislation.

This action is brought pursuant to Article 10, § 1 of the Kansas Constitution, which provides:

“Reapportionment of senatorial and representative districts, (a) At its regular session in 1989, the legislature shall by law reapportion the state representative districts, the state senatorial districts or both the state representative and senatorial districts upon the basis of the latest census of the inhabitants of the state taken by authority of chapter 61 of the 1987 Session [599]*599Laws of Kansas. At its regular session in 1992, and at its regular session every tenth year thereafter, the legislature shall by law reapportion the state senatorial districts and representative districts on the basis of the population of the state as established by the most recent census of population taken and published by the United States bureau of the census. Senatorial and representative districts shall be reapportioned upon the basis of the population of the state adjusted: (1) To exclude nonresident military personnel stationed within the state and nonresident students attending colleges and universities within the state; and (2) to include military personnel stationed within the state who are residents of the state and students attending colleges and universities within the state who are residents of the state in the district of their permanent residence. Bills reapportioning legislative districts shall be published in the Kansas register immediately upon final passage and shall be effective for the next following election of legislators and thereafter until again reapportioned.
“(b) Within 15 days after the publication of an act reapportioning the legislative districts within the time specified in (a), the attorney general shall petition the supreme court of the state to determine the validity thereof. The supreme court, within 30 days from the filing of the petition, shall enter its judgment. Should the supreme court determine that the reapportionment statute is invalid, the legislature shall enact a statute of reapportionment conforming to the judgment of the supreme court within 15 days.
“(c) Upon enactment of a reapportionment to conform with a judgment under (b), the attorney general shall apply to the supreme court of the state to determine the validity thereof. The supreme court, within 10 days from the filing of such application, shall enter its judgment. Should the supreme court determine that the reapportionment statute is invalid, the legislature shall again enact a statute reapportioning the legislative districts in compliance with the direction of and conforming to the mandate of the supreme court within 15 days after entry thereof.
“(d) Whenever a petition or application is filed under this section, the supreme court, in accordance with its rules, shall permit interested persons to present their views.
“(e) A judgment of the supreme court of the state determining a reapportionment to be valid shall be final until the legislative districts are again reapportioned in accordance herewith.”

The petition of the attorney general to determine the validity of House Bill No. 3083 was filed with the clerk of this court on May 15, 1992. We entered an order the same day scheduling a hearing on the petition for Thursday, May 28, 1992. The hearing concerning representative districts (sections 1 through 128 of the bill) was scheduled to commence at 9:00 a.m., and the hearing concerning senatorial districts (sections 129 through 171 of the bill) was scheduled to commence at 1:30 p.m. To provide wide [600]*600public notice of that hearing, we directed the clerk of this court to publish a copy of the scheduling order one time in each of 13 newspapers of wide circulation: The Topeka Capital-Journal, The Kansas City Kansan, The Kansas City Star, The Wichita Eagle, The Emporia Gazette, The Salina Journal, The Hutchinson News, The Pittsburg Morning Sun, The Garden City Telegram, The Junction City Daily Union, The Manhattan Mercury, The Lawrence Journal-World, and The Johnson County Sun. Interested persons were invited to file written statements in support of or in opposition to the proposed reapportionment before noon on Wednesday, May 27, 1992, and were invited to make oral presentations. Interested persons submitting written statements were not required to present their views orally to the court.

The May 15 petition of the attorney general to determine the validity of the reapportionment legislation- took no stance on the validity of the House or Senate reapportionment, praying only for a public hearing and for this court to determine the validity of the legislation.

Robert A. Coldsnow, assistant revisor, Office of the Revisor of Statutes, Topeka, Kansas, filed written statements in support of the reapportionment legislation on behalf of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council.

David G. Miller, President of the Eudora Chamber of Commerce, and James V. Hoover, Mayor of Eudora, filed a joint statement on behalf of Eudora, Kansas, opposing the House reapportionment plan.

David G. Miller of Eudora, Kansas, in his individual capacity; Maurice L. Taylor, Mayor of the City of Edgerton, Kansas; and the McCamish Township Board, Gardner, Kansas, filed written statements opposing the Senate reapportionment plan. Carol Lehman, Mayor of the City of Gardner, Kansas, sent a written statement opposing the Senate reapportionment plan by facsimile machine on May 28, 1992. The clerk of this court received Mayor Lehman’s statement at 11:45 a.m. that morning. The statement was available to the court before the 1:30 p.m. hearing on. Senate reapportionment. We acknowledged receipt of the statement at the hearing. Mayor Lehman’s statement was considered with the other statements in arriving at a decision in this proceeding.

[601]*601Robert T. Stephan, attorney general, and Robert A. Coldsnow, assistant revisor, made oral presentations to the court. Both urged this court to approve the reapportionment legislation.

The attorney general provided maps of the House and Senate districts for the entire state and individual maps of the House and Senate districts for Johnson, Sedgwick, Shawnee, and Wyandotte Counties. The maps were admitted by the court and made a part of the record.

John R.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
836 P.2d 574, 251 Kan. 597, 1992 Kan. LEXIS 128, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-stephan-kan-1992.