Should Sedgwick County need Johnson County’s OK to amend county charter? They say no
Under current state law, Sedgwick County could create a commission to examine the efficiency of its governmental operations — but all the members would would have to be from Johnson County.
A bill to fix that anomaly is making its way through the Legislature right now and took a key step forward Wednesday when it was voted out of committee and sent to the full House for a floor vote.
Senate Bill 53 would allow Sedgwick County to establish a Charter Commission that would actually have Sedgwick County residents on it.
Commissioner David Dennis said there are no immediate plans for a Sedgwick County charter overhaul. But the county would like to have that option as a “tool in our toolbox.”
One section of the current statute says that any urban county can establish a charter commission — and Sedgwick County is designated as an urban county.
But the next section of the statute, which outlines the size and makeup of the charter commissions, says all 25 members have to be from Johnson County.
“We could create a charter commission right now,” Dennis said. “But we’d have to send a bus to Johnson County to pick up the members.”
A charter commission is a way to bring together a group of community stakeholders from inside and outside of government to study the structure of county government, explained Mike Heim, an attorney with the state Revisor of Statutes Office.
“If they come up with recommendations for changes, those changes would have to be voted on by the people,” Heim said.
So far, Johnson County is the only one that’s done it.
Its Charter Commission was formed in 2000 and reviews county operations every 10 years.
The first commission prompted the county to convert three positions — treasurer, clerk and register of deeds — from elected offices to staff jobs.
The commission 10 years later adjourned without making any recommendations.
The only “no” votes on SB 53 were Cheryl Helmer, R-Mulvane and Tatum Lee-Hahn, R-Ness City.
“It could potentially mess with the heirarchy of local government,” Lee-Hahn said. She also said an unnamed Sedgwick County official had told her “This is a sneaky way of consolidating government.”
Rep. Marty Long, R-Ulysses, voted with the majority to change the law and let Sedgwick County go ahead with a charter commission of its own if it wants to.
He called it a “no-brainer” and said it shows “a lack of ego” on the part of county commissioners to empower a commission to examine how they do their jobs.
If SB 53 is enacted and the county decides to move forward with a charter commission the membership would include:
▪ Eight members appointed by the county commissioners.
▪ Three members appointed by Sedgwick County state senators.
▪ Three members appointed by Sedgwick County House members.
▪ Two members appointed by the county Republican Party.
▪ Two members appointed by the county Democratic Party.
▪ Two members appointed by the Wichita Area Chamber of Commerce.
▪ The mayor of Wichita or designee.
▪ Two members appointed by the county’s association of cities.
▪ Two members appointed by the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. Those members would have to reside in unincorporated areas of the county.
State and county elected office-holders could not serve on the charter commission.
