SENATE BILL No. 17
By Joint Committee on State Building Construction
12-22
8 AN ACT concerning state building construction; relating to certain
9 claims arising therefrom; providing for recovery and disposition of
10 amounts received for costs incurred; amending K.S.A. 75-1267 and 75-
11 3785 and repealing the existing sections.
12
13 Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
14 Section 1. K.S.A. 75-1267 is hereby amended to read as follows: 75-
15 1267. (a) The secretary of administration shall obtain and maintain copies
16 of all drawings, specifications, contracts, change orders, field orders, war-
17 ranties and other documents relating to all capital improvement projects
18 for the construction of buildings or for major repairs or improvements to
19 buildings for state agencies. It is the responsibility of the secretary of
20 administration to prepare all of the necessary documentation to support
21 claims by the state against any project architect, contractor, manufacturer,
22 supplier or other person regarding any such capital improvement project.
23 (b) It is the responsibility of each state agency for which such a capital
24 improvement project was completed to initially refer all claims on behalf
25 of or against the state arising from the project to the secretary of admin-
26 istration. The secretary of administration shall attempt to effect an infor-
27 mal or formal resolution of all such claims in a manner satisfactory to the
28 interests of the state. Failing such a resolution, the secretary of admin-
29 istration shall refer and the state agency for which the project was com-
30 pleted may refer all such claims to the attorney general for action. Written
31 notice of each such referral to the attorney general shall be given to the
32 governor by the secretary of administration and the state agency making
33 such referral. Upon each such referral, the attorney general shall institute
34 and prosecute or defend all appropriate legal proceedings regarding such
35 claims. In any such legal proceeding, the court may award the state all
36 or a portion of the costs of the proceeding, including reasonable attorney
37 fees, witness fees and any amounts expended from the construction defects
38 recovery fund or from any other fund in the state treasury in support of
39 such proceeding or related to any such claim.
40 (c) On or before November 15 each year, the secretary of adminis-
41 tration shall report to the joint committee on state building construction
42 as to the nature and status of all claims made on behalf of the state arising
43 from state projects for the construction of buildings or major repairs or
44 improvements to buildings which are referred to or acted on by the sec-
45 retary of administration under this section, and shall include in such re-
46 port any recommendations deemed appropriate by the secretary of
47 administration.
48 (d) No document required to be kept and maintained under this sec-
49 tion which relates to any correctional institution, as defined by K.S.A. 75-
50 5202 and amendments thereto, or any other facility under the jurisdiction
51 and control of the secretary of corrections or to any secured area or other
52 area where public access is limited, shall be open for public inspection
53 or reproduction under K.S.A. 45-201 and 45-202, and amendments
54 thereto. The secretary of administration may limit reproduction of any
55 other documents required to be kept and maintained under this section
56 which may be used for commercial or similar purposes to the extent
57 deemed appropriate by the secretary in the best interests of the state,
58 except that there shall be no limitation on the reproduction of documents
59 pertaining to buildings on the state or national register of historic places
60 unless inspection of any such document is prohibited by the terms of the
61 preceding sentence.
62 Sec. 2. K.S.A. 75-3785 is hereby amended to read as follows: 75-
63 3785. (a) There is hereby created in the state treasury the construction
64 defects recovery fund.
65 (b) All proceeds received by state agencies shall be deposited in the
66 construction defects recovery fund. All expenditures from the construc-
67 tion defects recovery fund in excess of $25,000 for the purposes stated in
68 paragraph (4) of this subsection shall be subject to the prior approval of
69 the state finance council, which is hereby characterized as a matter of
70 legislative delegation and subject to the guidelines prescribed in subsec-
71 tion (c) of K.S.A. 75-3711c, and amendments thereto. All other expend-
72 itures from the construction defects recovery fund shall be subject to the
73 prior approval of the secretary of administration, and the secretary of
74 administration shall report each such expenditure to the joint committee
75 on state building construction. Where expenditures are made in support
76 of litigation in which the state is involved, such expenditures also shall be
77 subject to the prior approval of the attorney general. All expenditures
78 shall be paid pursuant to vouchers of the director of accounts and reports
79 approved by the director of architectural services and shall be for one or
80 more of the following purposes:
81 (1) To identify the nature, extent and causes of defects in the design,
82 construction or other work on capital improvements;
83 (2) to provide architectural, engineering or other technical services
84 to determine methods for correcting or repairing such defects;
85 (3) to provide services in support of claims by the state or to defend
86 claims against the state concerning state construction projects; or
87 (4) to correct or repair defects in buildings or facilities under the
88 jurisdiction of state agencies, or to make other repairs or perform main-
89 tenance related to such defects.
90 (c) As used in this section, "proceeds" means money paid to the state
91 of Kansas or any state agency for forfeited bid bonds, or by an insurer,
92 or by a person or firm performing duties related to construction under a
93 contract with a state agency, to compensate or reimburse the state for
94 errors, omissions or other construction, architectural or engineering re-
95 lated defects adversely affecting the state or a state agency, including any
96 amounts recovered for any amounts expended from the construction de-
97 fects recovery fund or from any other fund in the state treasury (1) to
98 identify, investigate or study such defects or to correct or to make other
99 repairs or perform maintenance related to such defects or (2) in support
100 of claims by the state or to defend claims against the state concerning such
101 defects.
102 Sec. 3. K.S.A. 75-1267 and 75-3785 are hereby repealed.
103 Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
104 publication in the Kansas register.