Source: http://ksag.washburnlaw.edu/opinions/2002/2002-046.htm
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 02:46:10+00:00

Document:
Persons appointed to the Board of Directors for the Information Network of Kansas (INK) by the Governor pursuant to subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of K.S.A. 74-9303 as representatives of designated associations may not appoint others to serve in their absence from meetings of the Board of Directors for INK. Service on the Board by the Secretary of State is a duty of the office of Secretary of State. Pursuant to authority conferred under K.S.A. 75-412, the Secretary of State may appoint an assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state who may serve on the Board in the absence of the Secretary. The assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state so appointed may discuss issues and cast votes on issues coming before the Board of Directors for INK, subject only to any restrictions placed by the Secretary of State upon the exercise of that authority. Cited herein: K.S.A. 74-9301; 74-9302; 74-9303; 74-9404; 75-412; 75-414; 75-7202; Kan. Const., Art. 1, § 1; Kan. Const., Art. 2, § 18; Kan. Const., Art. 15, § 1; L. 1879, Ch. 166, § 2.
As members of the Board of Directors for the Information Network of Kansas, Inc., you request our opinion regarding whether any member of the Board may designate a representative who will attend Board meetings in the member's stead. You also ask whether such a designated representative may cast votes pursuant to proxy on matters that are presented to the Board and, if so, whether the proxy must be issue specific. This opinion addresses only the positions of the association members and the Secretary of State. An opinion regarding the cabinet secretaries, President of Kansas, Inc., and the Director of Information Systems and Communications will be issued at a later date.
The purpose for INK is not to "carry[ ] on a business for profit"(14) that has been "founded by and composed of private individuals. . . ."(15) Rather, INK was established to perform the governmental functions set forth in K.S.A. 74-9302. INK is a public corporation,(16) not a private or business corporation. As such, it is not subject to all the same rules and principles as a private or business corporation.
Through K.S.A. 74-9303, the Legislature itself has appointed the president of INK, the Secretary of State, and the director of information systems and communications to the Board for INK and conferred upon the Governor the legislative power to appoint the other seven members of the Board. K.S.A. 74-9301 et seq. do not expressly confer upon an individual member of the Board the authority to appoint a person who may serve in the absence of the member. Therefore, we review whether there is express or implied authority elsewhere that allows a member to appoint a person who may serve in the member's absence.
Subsections (b)(4) and (b)(5) of K.S.A. 74-9303 provide for the appointment by the Governor of persons who represent nongovernmental associations. While the Legislature may provide for the appointment of a private individual to a governmental board, the actual authority to appoint may not be delegated to a private individual.(20) The Legislature has not attempted to authorize a private individual to make an appointment to a position on the Board of Directors for INK. The persons appointed by the Governor pursuant to subsections (b)(4) and (b)(5) of K.S.A. 74-9303 may not appoint representatives to the Board of Directors of INK to serve in their absence.
Subsection (b)(6) requires the appointment by the Governor of an employee of a public library whose name is one of three submitted by the president of the Kansas Public Libraries Association. We have been unable to find a statute that expressly or by implication authorizes the person appointed pursuant to subsection (b)(6) of K.S.A. 74-9303 to appoint another individual to serve in the member's absence.
The Secretary of State is a "constitutional officer[ ] of the executive department" of the State, chosen by the electors of Kansas at an election conducted every four years.(21) The authorities, duties and obligations of the Secretary of State are prescribed in part by state statute.(22) Among the authorities and powers expressly conferred upon the Secretary of State is the authority to appoint assistants and deputies who may assist the Secretary of State in performing the duties and obligations of office.
"[T]he language of [ ] K.S.A. 75-412 says that the assistant secretary and deputies shall have charge of the office in the absence of the secretary. The statute, however, does not provide any positive language that the secretary can appoint his assistant secretary or deputies to any boards that are not part of the office of secretary of state upon which he is designated to sit, or to delegate specific discretionary power to such assistant or deputies for exercising such power on such boards. As a result, there is no explicit authority in the statute for the secretary of state to appoint a proxy to vote for him. . . .
We respectfully disagree with legal counsel's view that service on the Board of Directors for INK is not one of the duties of office of the Secretary of State. Pursuant to K.S.A. 74-9303(b)(2), the Secretary of State is a member of the Board. The Secretary's membership is not based on possessing any personal aptitude, knowledge, or skills. The only qualification for the Secretary to meet for membership is to be the Secretary. The Legislature has expressed no concerns regarding the personal identity of the person serving on the Board pursuant to subsection (b)(2). The ability and obligation of the person to serve begins on the day the person takes the oath of office as Secretary of State and ends on the day the person ceases to hold the office of Secretary of State. As such, the Legislature has made serving on the Board of Directors for INK an official duty of the Secretary of State.
The authority conferred under K.S.A. 75-412 upon the Secretary of State allows the appointment of an assistant secretary of state and five deputy assistant secretaries of state who, "[i]n the absence of the secretary of state, . . . shall have charge of the office, and . . . may perform the duties devolved by law upon such secretary, except as otherwise provided. . . ."(25) The rules of statutory construction provide guidance in determining the extent of the authority conferred upon the Secretary of State.
The Secretary of State has since 1879 had the authority to appoint an assistant secretary of state who in the absence of the Secretary has charge of the office and who may perform the duties assigned to the Secretary.(27) The ability of the assistant secretary of state to perform any such duties has always been subject to the condition "unless otherwise provided."(28) The ability of the assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state to perform the duties of the Secretary does appear rather expansive, however, the wisdom of conferring such authority is a matter for the Legislature to determine. The Legislature is presumed to know the law.(29) The Legislature has not curtailed the ability of an assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state to attend meetings of the Board of Directors for INK, a duty devolved upon the Secretary.(30) Therefore, an assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state may attend Board meetings in the place of the Secretary. Such officers are usually vested with all the power and authority of the principal(31) with their acts being considered as acts of the principal for which the principal is responsible.(32) As such, the assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state may discuss and cast votes on issues coming before the Board of Directors for INK, subject only to any restrictions placed by the Secretary upon the exercise of that authority. Because the Secretary of State has statutory authority to appoint an assistant secretary of state and deputy assistant secretaries of state who may perform the duties assigned to the Secretary, it is not necessary to review whether implied power to do so exists.
In review, persons appointed to the Board of Directors for INK by the Governor pursuant to subsections (b)(4), (b)(5), and (b)(6) of K.S.A. 74-9303 as representatives of designated associations may not appoint representatives to serve in their absence from meetings of the Board of Directors for INK. Service on the Board by the Secretary of State is a duty of the office of Secretary of State. Pursuant to authority conferred under K.S.A. 75-412, the Secretary of State may appoint an assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state who may serve on the Board in the absence of the Secretary. As proxy for the Secretary of State, the assistant secretary of state or deputy assistant secretary of state may discuss and cast votes on issues coming before the Board of Directors for INK, subject only to any restrictions placed by the Secretary of State upon the exercise of that authority.
1. Correspondence, Tom Winters, February 21, 2002. See also Correspondence, Ron Thornburgh, February 15, 2002.
2. Correspondence, H. Philip Elwood, February 28, 2002.
5. K.S.A. 74-9301 et seq.
11. 18 Am.Jur.2d Corporations § 30 (1985).
12. 18 Am.Jur.2d Corporations § 13 (1985).
13. 56 Am.Jur.2d Municipal Corporations, Counties and Other Political Subdivisions § 12 (2000).
14. Black's Law Dictionary 179 (1979) (definition of "business corporation").
15. Black's Law Dictionary 307 (1979) (discussion in the definition of "corporation" when distinguishing public corporations and private corporations).
16. "An artificial person (e.g. municipality or a government corporation) created for the administration of public affairs. . . . Instrumentalities created by state, formed and owned by it in public interest, supported in whole or in part by public funds, and governed by managers deriving their authority from [the] state." Black's Law Dictionary 1105-06 (1979). See Attorney General Opinions No. 2000-12; 93-62. See also 56 Am.Jur.2d Municipal Corporations, Counties, and Other Political Subdivisions § 12 (2000) ("[p]ublic corporations are created for public purposes connected with the administration of the government . . .").
17. Kan. Const., Art. 2, § 18. See also Kan. Const., Art. 15, § 1.
18. Leek v. Theis, 217 Kan. 784, Syl. ¶ 11 (1975).
19. Attorney General Opinion No. 97-39.
21. Kan. Const., Art. 1, § 1.
23. K.S.A. 75-412 (emphasis added).
24. Correspondence, H. Philip Elwood to Leroy Gattin, January 6, 2002.
26. In re Estate of Gardner, No. 85,030 (Kan. March 15, 2002) (internal citations omitted).
27. L. 1879, Ch. 166, § 32.
29. In re Application of American Restaurant Operations, 264 Kan. 518, 524 (1998).
30. See, i.e., K.S.A. 75-7202(e) (Information Technology Executive Council; "[m]embers of the council may not appoint an individual to represent them on the council and only members of the council may vote").
31. 63C Am.Jur.2d Public Officers and Employees § 233 (1997). See also 56 Am.Jur.2d Municipal Corporations, Counties, and Other Political Subdivisions § 212 (2000).
32. 63C Am.Jur.2d Public Officers and Employees § 40 (1997).

References: Art. 1
 § 1
 Art. 2
 § 18
 Art. 15
 § 1
 § 2
 § 30
 § 13
 § 12
 § 12
 Art. 2
 § 18
 Art. 15
 § 1
 v. 
 Art. 1
 § 1
 § 32
 § 233
 § 212
 § 40