Governor designates Deputy Todd Widman Memorial Highway
Bill honoring fallen officer one of seven signed today

Part of U.S. Highway 73 was today dedicated in honor of fallen Brown County Deputy Sheriff Todd Widman as a result of a bill signed by Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

“Law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day to protect and serve the people of Kansas,” Sebelius said. “This act will not only honor Deputy Widman’s sacrifice, but also remind Kansans of the commitment every man and woman who puts on the uniform has made to our safety.”

The bill designates the Deputy Todd Widman Memorial Highway as being U.S. Highway 73 from just north of the Horton city limits, through Widman’s hometown of Hiawatha, and on to the Kansas-Nebraska border.

On March 1, 2000, Deputy Widman, 21, was shot and killed in the line of duty.  Widman had responded to a call about a person walking along the highway in the town of Hiawatha.  He was transporting the suspect to the sheriff’s department for questioning when he was shot.  Widman later died at an area hospital.

The suspect was killed after engaging in gunfire with area law enforcement officers about an hour later.

Brown County Sheriff Lamar Shoemaker said at the bill’s hearing that Widman grew up in Hiawatha and had wanted to be a deputy all his life. Well known throughout the town, Widman had been a deputy for only four months before being killed.  Sheriff Shoemaker and members of Widman’s family testified the highway designation will be a fitting honor for the town’s fallen son.

The bill, SB 108, was one of seven signed today by Governor Sebelius. The signed bills will take effect after their publication in the statute book. To date, Governor Sebelius has signed 37 bills during the 2007 Legislative Session and vetoed one.

Making crimes at certain landmarks federal offenses

SB 356 gives the federal government concurrent jurisdiction over crimes and offenses at three locations in Kansas. These are the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, Nicodemus National Historic Site and Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve.

Allowing an increase in the levy cap for county fair buildings

SB 19 allows a larger tax levy to be made by the county commissioners of any county having a county fair association for the purpose of acquiring ground for a county fair building or the erection and maintenance of county fair buildings. Currently statute limits any such annual tax levy to a rate that would raise no more than $3,000. This bill increases the levy cap to $33,000.

Reporting the progress of workforce development activities

SB 288 requires the Monitoring Unit of the Division of Workforce Development in the Kansas Department of Commerce, to annually report, on or before January 15, to the standing committees on economic development on the monitoring activities of the division during the preceding calendar year. The report will include any problems within workforce development activities, compliance with federal and state requirements and any other matters concerning workforce development which the unit deems appropriate.

Requiring training for petroleum storage tank operators

SB 190 requires operators of underground petroleum storage tanks to complete training relating to their specific responsibilities. The bill establishes three training levels: one for persons having primary responsibility for on-site operation and maintenance of underground storage tank systems, another for persons having daily on-site responsibility for the operation and maintenance of underground systems and a third for daily, on-site employees with primary responsibility for addressing emergencies presented by a spill or release from storage systems.

The bill also requires that contractors maintain an amount equal to or greater than $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 annual aggregate for the cost of corrective action. It also permits funds in the Underground Petroleum Storage Tank Release Trust Fund to be used for administrative, technical and legal costs, additional enforcement and reporting and operator training as required by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005

Finally, the bill extends the sunset provision for reimbursement of those owners of aboveground storage tank facilities or bulk plants for costs incurred in upgrading a facility or for closure expenses from October 30, 2007 to July 1, 2009.  It also extends the sunset date for the Kansas Essential Fuels Supply Trust Fund Compensation Advisory Board and the Kansas Essential Fuels Supply Trust Fund from July 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012.

Change to requirements for publication of legal notices

SB 269 amends the Revised Kansas Code for Care of Children by requiring, when service is by publication, that the notice be placed in a local newspaper that’s authorized to publish legal notices and is located where the parent to be served is believed with substantial certainty to be residing.

Technical change in wildlife and parks statute

SB 191 makes a technical change in a statute concerning violations laws, rules and regulations for big game or wild turkey.  The amendment adds a comma following the word “tags” on line 17 of the bill.  The missing comma has resulted in some instances where violations were dismissed in the field.

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