75-2701. State historical society; acquisition and disposition of property; executive director; Kansas state historical society, inc., board of directors, executive committee, distinction between entities; fees for admittance to property. (a) The state historical society, heretofore organized under the incorporation laws of the state, shall be the trustee of the state. As such, the society shall faithfully expend and apply all money received from the state to the uses and purposes directed by law, shall hold all the society's present and future collections of property for the state and shall not sell, mortgage, transfer or dispose of in any manner or remove from the building or buildings occupied for historical interests of the state, except for temporary purposes, any article of property without authority of law. This shall not prevent the sale, exchange, donation or other disposition by the society of publications, duplicate property in collection holdings, property outside the scope of collection, hazardous property or property with insufficient research, educational or exhibit value, but:

(1) No such property shall be disposed of except by sale or exchange until the society adopts rules and regulations establishing procedures for disposition;

(2) no rules and regulations establishing procedures for disposition of such property shall be adopted until the society first advises and consults with the joint committee on administrative rules and regulations regarding the proposed rules and regulations;

(3) such rules and regulations shall provide, with respect to property which was donated by an individual, procedures reasonably calculated to notify and offer such property to such individual or such individual's immediate family prior to disposal, if the property is disposed of within 20 years after the donation; and

(4) such rules and regulations shall provide, with respect to property with research, educational or exhibit value, procedures for notifying local institutions that such property is being disposed of.

(b) There shall continue to be a board of directors of the Kansas state historical society, inc., and an executive committee of such board of directors, each to consist of as many members as the Kansas state historical society, inc., determines.

(c) The society may acquire property, real or personal, by gift, bequest or otherwise, in any amount, and upon such conditions as the society's executive committee deems best for the interests of the society. Any such property so acquired and any state-owned historic site, structure or other property which has been placed by law under the jurisdiction and supervision of the society shall be administered by the society in the public interest, and the society shall provide for the preservation of such property and shall adopt rules and regulations as necessary for the proper use and enjoyment of such property. For this purpose the society may fix, charge and collect fees for admittance to any state-owned historic site, structure or property which has been placed under the jurisdiction and supervision of the society and is further authorized to provide exemptions from such fees or to fix reduced fees for one or more categories of persons.

(d) The society shall remit all moneys received by the society under the provisions of subsection (c) to the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of K.S.A. 75-4215, and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the historic properties fee fund which is hereby created. All expenditures from such fund shall be made in accordance with appropriation acts upon warrants of the director of accounts and reports issued pursuant to vouchers approved by the executive director of the state historical society or a person designated by the executive director.

(e) The state historical society is a state agency within the executive branch of state government for all purposes under the statutes and laws of Kansas. The Kansas state historical society, inc., is a not-for-profit corporation organized under the incorporation laws of Kansas. All real and personal property under the control and supervision of the state historical society that is not property owned and maintained by the Kansas state historical society, inc., as a not-for-profit corporation organized under the incorporation laws of Kansas, in order to accomplish the purposes of the corporation as stated in the articles of incorporation and bylaws, including, but not limited to, investments, office equipment, property and revenues of the museum stores and income from membership fees and assessments, belongs to the state of Kansas.

(f) (1) The governor shall appoint the executive director of the state historical society, subject to confirmation by the senate as provided in K.S.A. 75-4315b, and amendments thereto. Except as provided by K.S.A. 46-2601, and amendments thereto, no person appointed as executive director shall exercise any power, duty or function as executive director until confirmed by the senate. The governor may appoint the executive director of the state historical society from a list of three qualified persons nominated by the executive committee of the Kansas state historical society, inc. The governor may reject all nominees submitted on any such list and may request an additional list of three other qualified persons to consider for appointment to the office of executive director of the state historical society. The executive director of the state historical society shall be in the unclassified service under the Kansas civil service act and shall be subject to evaluation in accordance with this section. The executive director of the state historical society shall receive an annual salary fixed by the governor.

(2) The executive director of the state historical society shall be qualified by education or training and experience in the field of history, historic preservation, education, museum administration or a related field and shall have demonstrated executive and administrative ability to discharge the duties of the office of executive director of the state historical society.

(3) An evaluation of the executive director of the state historical society shall be conducted annually by the executive committee of the Kansas state historical society, inc., and the results of such evaluation shall be submitted to the governor for review. The executive director shall be subject to removal by the governor.

(4) Whenever the office of the executive director of the state historical society becomes vacant, the executive committee of the Kansas state historical society, inc., shall be notified of such vacancy and shall prepare and submit a list of three qualified nominees to the governor for the appointment of a successor.

(g) On and after the effective date of this act, whenever the secretary of the state historical society or the executive director of the state historical society, or words of like effect, is referred to or designated by a statute, contract or other document, such reference or designation shall be deemed to apply to the executive director of the state historical society.

(h) On and after the effective date of this act, whenever the state historical society or words of like effect is referred to or designated by a statute, contract or other document, such reference or designation shall be deemed to apply to the state agency within the executive branch of state government and shall not be deemed to refer to the Kansas state historical society, inc., a not-for-profit corporation organized under the corporation laws of Kansas, unless the reference is specifically to that corporation or within the context of the reference clearly refers to that corporation.

History: L. 1879, ch. 167, § 1; R.S. 1923, 75-2701; L. 1957, ch. 444, § 1; L. 1971, ch. 271, § 1; L. 1984, ch. 314, § 1; L. 1991, ch. 257, § 1; L. 2001, ch. 5, § 377; L. 2001, ch. 152, § 1; L. 2008, ch. 121, § 22; July 1.