Terms Used In Kansas Statutes > Chapter 19 > Article 27 - Public Improvements; Improvement and Service Districts

• Acquire: means the acquisition of property or interests in property by purchase, gift, condemnation or other lawful means and may include the acquisition of existing property and improvements already owned and previously financed by the county;

  (b) "benefit district" means an area deemed by the governing body to be benefited by an improvement and subject to special assessment for all or a portion of the cost of the improvement;

  (c) "consultant" means engineers, architects, planners, attorneys and other persons deemed competent to advise and assist the governing body in the planning, making and financing of improvements;

  (d) "cost" means all costs necessarily incurred for the preparation of preliminary reports, the preparation of plans and specifications, the preparation and publication of notices of hearings, resolutions and other proceedings, necessary fees and expenses of consultants and interest accrued on borrowed money during the period of construction; and the cost of issuing bonds, including amounts necessary to fund reserves, together with the cost of land, materials, labor and other lawful expenses incurred in planning and doing any improvement which may include a charge of not to exceed 5% of the total cost of an improvement or the cost of work done by the county to reimburse the county for the services rendered by the county in the administration and supervision of such improvement by its general officers. See Kansas Statutes 19-27,181

• Affidavit: A written statement of facts confirmed by the oath of the party making it, before a notary or officer having authority to administer oaths.
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• county: means Sedgwick county, Kansas;

  (f) "governing body" means the board of county commissioners;

  (g) "improve" means to construct, reconstruct, maintain, restore, replace, renew, repair, install, equip, extend or to perform any work which will provide a new facility or enhance, extend or restore the value or utility of an existing facility;

  (h) "improvement" means any type of improvement made under authority of this act and includes reimprovement of a prior improvement. See Kansas Statutes 19-27,181

• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. ^{Source: U.S. Courts}
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• General election: refers to the election required to be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Joint meeting: An occasion, often ceremonial, when the House and Senate each adopt a unanimous consent agreement
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• newspaper: means any one of the official designated newspapers of the county;

  (j) "storm water and sanitary sewer systems" means any trunk lines, outfall or intercepting sewers, manholes, pumps, pumping stations, lift stations, disposal plants, and any appurtenances and apparatus necessary for the collection, storage, treatment and disposal of storm water or sanitary sewage and wastewater;

  (k) "street" means street, highway, road, alley, avenue, boulevard or other public way or any part thereof. See Kansas Statutes 19-27,181

• Obligation: An order placed, contract awarded, service received, or similar transaction during a given period that will require payments during the same or a future period.
• Precedent: A court decision in an earlier case with facts and law similar to a dispute currently before a court. Precedent will ordinarily govern the decision of a later similar case, unless a party can show that it was wrongly decided or that it differed in some significant way.
• Property: includes personal and real property. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• real property: include lands, tenements and hereditaments, and all rights to them and interest in them, equitable as well as legal. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Residence: means the place which is adopted by a person as the person's place of habitation and to which, whenever the person is absent, the person has the intention of returning. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• road: include public bridges and may be construed to be equivalent to "county way" "county road" "common road" "state road" and "territorial road. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• seal: includes an impression of the seal upon the paper alone, as well as upon wax or a wafer affixed to the paper. See Kansas Statutes 77-201
• State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories. See Kansas Statutes 77-201