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POWERS AND DUTIES OF CORPORATIONS

K.S.A. ch. 17, art. 6
in effect

K.S.A. 17-618 Eminent domain, exercise by sundry corporations and partnerships.

17-618. Eminent domain, exercise by sundry corporations and partnerships. Lands may be appropriated for the use of macadam-road, plank-road, hospital corporation or association, telegraph and telephone corporations, electric, hydraulic, irrigating, milling and manufacturing corporations using power, oil companies, pipeline companies, and for the piping of gas in the same manner as is provided in K.S.A. 26-501 to 26-516 , inclusive, and any macadam-road, plank-road, telegraph and telephone corporations, hydraulic, irrigating, oil company, pipeline company, gas company, partnership holding a certificate of convenience as a public utility issued by the state corporation commission, milling or manufacturing corporation using power desiring the right to dam or take water from any stream, to conduct water in canals or raceways or pipes, or to conduct compressed air in pipes, or to conduct oil in pipes or conduct gas in pipes, or transmit power or communications by shafting, belting, or belting and pulleys, or ropes and pulleys, or by electrical current, or by compressed air, may obtain such right or the right-of-way for all necessary canals, raceways, pipes, shafting, belting and pulleys, ropes and pulleys or wires or cables in manner as aforesaid; and such canals, raceways, pipes, shafting, belting, belting and pulleys, ropes and pulleys or wires or cables may be laid, carried or stretched on, through or over any land or lot, or along or upon any stream of water, using so much of the water thereof as may be needed for any of the purposes aforesaid, or through any street or alley or public ground of any city of the second or third class: Provided, That no such canal or raceway shall be located through any street or alley or any public ground of any city without the consent of the municipal authorities thereof: Provided further, That it shall be unlawful for any person or corporation to locate or construct any irrigating canal or raceway along or upon any stream of water or take and use the water of any stream in such manner as to interfere with or in any wise hinder, delay or injure any milling or irrigating improvements already constructed or located along or upon any stream of water, or to diminish the supply of water flowing to or through any established irrigating canal: Provided further, That in case of the erection of a dam, the report of the commissioners, instead of defining the quantity and boundaries of the land overflowed, shall designate particularly the height of such dam. G.S. 1868, ch. 23, § 88; L. 1871, ch. 64, § 1; L. 1876, ch. 58, § 1; L. 1891, ch. 85, § 1; L. 1899, ch. 95, § 1; L. 1901, ch. 128, § 1; L. 1917, ch. 122, § 1; R.S. 1923, 17-618; L. 1947, ch. 183, § 1; L. 1963, ch. 234, § 37; January 1, 1964. Cross References to Related Sections: Disposal of oil-field or gas-field brines, see 55-1003. Certain corporations and partnerships, see 17-1903, 26-101. Law Review and Bar Journal References: Burden of proof in eminent domain proceedings, 14 W.L.J. 355, 356 (1975). "Legal Constraints on Diverting Water from Eastern Kansas to Western Kansas," John C. Peck, 30 K.L.R. 160, 206 (1982). "Legal Aspects of Water Storage in Federal Reservoirs in Kansas," John C. Peck, 32 K.L.R. 785 (1984). Attorney General's Opinions: Laying of pipeline and other public utility uses of roadways. 82-27. CASE ANNOTATIONS 1. Courts determine whether use prescribed is public use; legislature determines when power may be exercised for public use. Irrigation Co. v. Klein, 63 Kan. 484, 491, 65 P. 684. 2. Production and distribution of natural gas; business of public nature; legislature may grant right of eminent domain to gas company. La Harpe v. Gas Co., 69 Kan. 97, 101, 102, 103, 76 P. 448. 3. Section considered in discussing right to appropriate water for irrigation. Clark v. Allaman, 71 Kan. 206, 238, 80 P. 571. 4. Company piping and distributing gas has right of eminent domain; gas company may bury its pipe line in the public highway. The State v. Natural Gas Co., 71 Kan. 508, 509, 80 P. 962. 5. Flour mill operated by steam has no right of eminent domain. Howard v. Schwartz, 77 Kan. 599, 603, 605, 606, 607, 95 P. 559. 6. Definite width of right of way need not be described. Love v. Empire Natural Gas Co., 119 Kan. 374, 377, 239 P. 767. 7. Petitioner cannot dismiss proceedings after verdict rendered. Stewart v. Marland Pipe Line Co., 132 Kan. 725, 726, 727, 297 P. 708. 8. Section cited in appeal under R.S. 1923, 26-101. Knox v. Great Lakes Pipe Line Co., 135 Kan. 170, 171, 9 P.2d 650. 9. Cited; no man can acquire an easement in his own lands. Johnston v. City of Kingman, 141 Kan. 131, 134, 39 P.2d 924. 10. Gas pipe-line company without authority to condemn underground stratum for gas storage. Strain v. Cities Service Gas Co., 148 Kan. 393, 396, 397, 398, 399, 83 P.2d 124. 11. Foreign electric utility company authorized to obtain right of way by condemnation; statutes construed. Cline v. Kansas Gas and Electric Company, 260 F.2d 271, 272, 273. 12. Public utility company authorized to exercise power of eminent domain for the acquisition of underground easements. Spears v. Kansas City Power & Light Co., 203 Kan. 520, 524, 455 P.2d 496. 13. What amounts to a valid exercise hereunder considered. Mid-America Pipe Line Co. v. Missouri Pac. Railroad Co., 298 F. Supp. 1112–14, 1118–23 (1969). 14. Action to enjoin exercise of power by electric utility; no abuse of reasonable discretion; injunction denied; zoning under K.S.A. 19-2914 et seq. not condition precedent to exercising powers hereunder. Concerned Citizens, United, Inc. v. Kansas Power and Light Co., 215 Kan. 218, 226, 234, 523 P.2d 755. 15. Section cited; Cities Service Gas Co. is a "public utility". Cities Service Gas Co. v. State Corporation Commission, 222 Kan. 598, 602, 567 P.2d 1343. 16. Property appropriated for public use affords appropriator permanent easement thereon, not fee simple title thereto. Kansas Gas & Electric Co. v. Winn, 227 Kan. 101, 104, 106, 605 P.2d 125. 17. Cited in concluding that even if purchaser of land has power of eminent domain the sale can still be a fair, arm's length transaction. Cain v. City of Topeka, 4 Kan. App. 2d 192, 194, 603 P.2d 1031. 18. Cited; statute does not authorize condemning authority to take fee simple title. Board of Education of U.S.D. 512 v. Vic Regnier Builders, Inc., 6 Kan. App. 2d 888, 892, 636 P.2d 802 (1981). 19. Right of eminent domain not precluded for novel purpose if reasonably within authority granted. Steele v. Missouri Pacific R.R. Co., 232 Kan. 855, 861, 659 P.2d 217 (1983). 20. Transmission of communications through fiber-optic cable held to be transmission by electrical current. Williams Telecommunications Co. v. Gragg, 242 Kan. 675, 679, 750 P.2d 398 (1988). 21. Mentioned in upholding eminent domain proceeding by telephone company; injunctive relief denied. Schuck v. Rural Telephone Service Co., 286 Kan. 19, 23, 24, 180 P.3d 571 (2008).

K.S.A. 17-619 Powers of sundry companies.

17-619. Powers of sundry companies. That any macadam-road, plank-road, telegraph, hydraulic, irrigating, gas company, milling or other manufacturing corporation using power, duly chartered and organized, may furnish, sell, let, or lease, for such time as such corporation may determine, any portion of its water or power or gas to any person or persons or corporation or partnerships who may wish to use the same, and may convey water in channels, raceways, or pipes, and convey gas or compressed air in pipes, and may transmit power by shafting, belting, belting and pulleys, ropes and pulleys, or by electrical current, or by compressed air; and such corporation may borrow such sums of money as may be necessary for completing, furnishing or operating its canals, raceways, pipes, dams, mills, or machinery, and may issue and dispose of its bonds for any amount so borrowed, and may mortgage the corporate property and franchise, or any part of the same, to secure the payment of any debt contracted by the corporation for the purposes aforesaid. L. 1876, ch. 58, § 2; L. 1891, ch. 85, § 2; L. 1899, ch. 95, § 2; May 15; R.S. 1923, 17-619. CASE ANNOTATIONS 1. Irrigation in this state is a public use; right of eminent domain is conferred upon irrigation companies. Irrigation Co. v. Klein, 63 Kan. 484, 492, 65 P. 684. 2. Section cited in determining bank's authority to buy and sell bonds. First State Bank v. Bone, 122 Kan. 493, 501, 252 P. 250.

K.S.A. 17-623 Sewerage corporations; powers in cities.

17-623. Sewerage corporations; powers in cities. Any sewerage corporation shall have full power to construct, operate and maintain a sewer, sewers, or a system of sewerage, as may be required by the city where located, for the public and private use, convenience and health of the residents of said city, or for other purposes; and such corporations shall have power to lay or construct pipes, mains, and conductors, for operating said corporation's sewer, sewers, or system of sewerage, through the streets, lanes, alleys and squares in such city, with the consent of the municipal authorities thereof, and under such regulations as they may prescribe. L. 1885, ch. 103, § 1; March 14; R.S. 1923, 17-623.

K.S.A. 17-624 Same; contracts with cities.

17-624. Same; contracts with cities. The municipal authorities of any city of the first or second class in which any sewerage corporation shall exist are hereby authorized to contract with any such corporation for the drainage and sewerage of the streets, lots, lanes, squares and public places in any such said city of the first and second class. L. 1885, ch. 103, § 2; March 14; R.S. 1923, 17-624.

K.S.A. 17-625 Irrigation corporations; operations authorized.

17-625. Irrigation corporations; operations authorized. Corporations may be organized for the purpose of constructing, maintaining and operating dams, reservoirs, sluices, ditches and canals, to divert, convey, store and deliver water to be used by such corporations, or by any other persons, for the purpose of irrigating land. Any such corporation is authorized to construct, maintain and operate a dam or reservoir with sluices, canals and ditches for the purpose of conveying, storing and delivering water, either upon or away from a running stream of water, or both, but subject to the prior rights of all persons to the use of the water and to the rights of all persons to land. L. 1933, ch. 155, § 1; March 22. Law Review and Bar Journal References: "Legal Constraints on Diverting Water from Eastern Kansas to Western Kansas," John C. Peck, 30 K.L.R. 160, 202, 206 (1982).

K.S.A. 17-626 Same; general powers.

17-626. Same; general powers. Any such corporation shall have the power: (a) To cause such examination and survey for its proposed works to be made, as may be necessary to the selection of the most advantageous site, route or routes, and by its officers, agents or servants to enter upon the land of any person for the purpose of making such examination and survey; (b) to take and hold such voluntary grants of real and other property as may be made to it to aid in the construction, maintenance and operation of its said works; (c) to receive the aid of any other party by gifts, written obligations, pledges and mortgages of such other party or parties; (d) to construct its works upon, along, connecting with or away from any stream of water; (e) and to obtain, store and deliver water to any other party or parties for use in irrigating land, or for conveyance and delivery to others for such use, at such rates and terms for its services and facilities as such corporation, by its bylaws and regulations, may prescribe, which rates and terms shall be reasonable and nondiscriminating. Such corporation shall have the power to borrow such sums of money as may be necessary for constructing, maintaining and operating its works, and to issue and dispose of its bonds on account of any amount so borrowed, and to pledge and mortgage its real and other property and franchises to secure the payment of any debt contracted by it for the purposes aforesaid. L. 1933, ch. 155, § 2; March 22.

K.S.A. 17-627 Same; eminent domain.

17-627. Same; eminent domain. Such corporations shall have the right to condemn, for its uses, any lands or other property, according to the procedure provided by K.S.A. 26-501 to 26-516 , inclusive. L. 1933, ch. 155, § 3; L. 1963, ch. 234, § 38; January 1, 1964.

K.S.A. 17-628 Same; rates and terms for services; appeal; hearing.

17-628. Same; rates and terms for services; appeal; hearing. Whenever any party which shall receive water from such corporation shall consider its rates or terms for its services and facilities to be unreasonable or discriminatory, such other party or parties may appeal to the corporation commission, and if such commission shall consider the complaint to require action by it, it shall notify such corporation and the complainant or complainants and conduct a hearing thereon in accordance with the provisions of the Kansas administrative procedure act within a county in which any of the works of any such corporation may be located. If the commission decides that such rates or terms are unreasonable or discriminatory, it shall fix rates and terms for the services and facilities of such corporation which shall be binding upon the parties until further order of the commission. L. 1933, ch. 155, § 4; L. 1988, ch. 356, § 50; July 1, 1989.

K.S.A. 17-629 Power of corporations to hold stock in and aid similar corporations.

17-629. Power of corporations to hold stock in and aid similar corporations. Any corporation or association which has power to construct, maintain or operate a dam, reservoir, sluices, ditches or canals, or either of them, for the purpose of irrigation, shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of shares of stock in any corporation or association organized for the same or similar purposes; and to aid such other corporation, association, or any county or other municipality or public corporation of any kind which has similar powers, in the construction, maintenance or operation of such works, by lending it money, or by guaranteeing, or acting as surety, for its indebtedness, or any part thereof, or by agreeing to pay in any manner or on any conditions, its indebtedness, or any part thereof, contracted for the purpose aforesaid, and shall have power in furtherance of any such guarantee, suretyship or agreement, to pledge its property, real or personal, and its franchises to secure the payment of any such debt, or any part thereof, of such other party. The making of any such guarantee, suretyship, agreement, pledge or mortgage by the obligor shall be required to be authorized by a majority vote in favor of the proposition of the shares of stock in the corporation, or of the members of the corporation or association, if there be no shares of stock therein, making the same as such obligor, and also by a majority vote of its board of directors, at meetings called, upon at least ten days' notice, for the purpose of passing upon the proposition. L. 1933, ch. 156, § 1; March 21.

K.S.A. 17-630 Mortgages and deeds of trust for securing bonds of interstate gas pipelines and certain public utilities or indebtedness incurred under rural electrification act; execution and filing; notice.

17-630. Mortgages and deeds of trust for securing bonds of interstate gas pipelines and certain public utilities or indebtedness incurred under rural electrification act; execution and filing; notice. Every mortgage or deed of trust, or satisfaction thereof, covering any real or personal property situated in this state, made to secure the payment of bonds issued or to be issued thereafter by any corporation which is an interstate gas pipeline company, or by any public utility as defined in K.S.A. 66-104 , and amendments thereto, except nothing herein shall apply to or affect railroad corporations, and every mortgage or deed of trust, or satisfaction thereof, covering any real or personal property situated in this state made to secure any indebtedness incurred under the rural electrification act of 1936, as amended (U.S. code, title 7, chapter 31), shall be executed and duly acknowledged and certified, as other instruments affecting real estate. Such mortgage or deed of trust, or satisfaction thereof shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state accompanied by the form prescribed by K.S.A. 84-9-521 (a), and amendments thereto, which must indicate in box 10 of the form that the instrument is filed in accordance with this section. The secretary shall certify that the instrument has been filed in the secretary's office by endorsing upon the original signed instrument the word "filed" and the date and hour of its filing. This endorsement is the "filing date" of the instrument and is conclusive of the date and time of its filing in the absence of actual fraud. The secretary of state shall thereupon file and index the endorsed instrument in accordance with part 5 of article 9 of the uniform commercial code, and amendments thereto. The instrument shall be effective upon the record until terminated and the secretary of state shall remove the record one year after termination. The filing of such instrument in the office of the secretary of state shall be notice to all persons of the contents thereof and to all subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers of the rights and interests of the parties thereto as to property described in the filed instrument and property acquired subsequent to the execution thereof if the instrument so provides. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no other filing of any such instrument shall be necessary. Any such mortgage or deed of trust filed in the office of the register of deeds of any county in this state may be refiled in the office of the secretary of state in the manner provided in this section. Such refiling shall thereafter as to any property not previously released from such mortgage or deed of trust be of the same effect as if the instrument had been originally filed in the office of the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall charge the same filing and information retrieval fees and credit the amounts in the same manner as financing statements filed under part 5 of article 9 of the uniform commercial code, and amendments thereto. L. 1974, ch. 232, § 1; L. 1975, ch. 129, § 1; L. 1999, ch. 39, § 1; L. 2002, ch. 159, § 1; May 23.

K.S.A. 17-631 Same; certificate required as condition for filing.

17-631. Same; certificate required as condition for filing. The secretary of state shall not receive for record or for filing any mortgage or deed of trust described in K.S.A. 17-630 , unless and until the same has thereon the certificate of a register of deeds that the same has been presented to him pursuant to the provisions of K.S.A. 79-3101 to 79-3107 , inclusive, and that any real estate mortgage tax, if any is due, has been paid or that none is due thereon, as the case may be. L. 1974, ch. 232, § 2; July 1.
Source: Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes (ksrevisor.gov)URL: https://www.ksrevisor.gov/statutes/ksa_ch17.htmlFetched: 10/20/2026

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