By EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Earlier today, Seward County Commission Vice Chair Todd Stanton sent a referral to Seward County Attorney Russell Hassenbank regarding the funding of the Seward County Assistant Administrator position with restricted landfill/solid waste funds.
“I am requesting review as the records raise substantial legal questions under Kansas solid-waste statutes, county budget statutes, and county expenditure-control requirements,” Stanton stated in his referral. “The issue is not whether the (Board of County Commissioners) has general control over county expenditures. It does. The issue is whether that expenditure-control authority was exercised within the limits imposed by the solid-waste statutes, the adopted budget, restricted-fund requirements, and Kansas budget law.”
The issue involves the funding of the assistant administrator’s position, a separate department of Seward County, from the Solid Waste Landfill fund. According to the referral, KSA 65-3410 states that funds raised for the collection of solid wastes can only be used for “solid-waste storage, collection, transportation, processing, and disposal, and to use those funds for purposes connected to the county’s approved solid-waste system and plan.”
Over the years, the Kansas Attorney General has issued opinions on the use of landfill funds and had further defined the narrow use of the funds for landfill purposes only.
According to the referral, the assistant county administrator position has been funded exclusively by funds produced by the landfill with the exception of February 2026 when the position was paid out of the administrative budget. Since then, however, the pay has been exclusively covered by landfill funds.
According to Kansas Attorney General Opinion 1997-55, solid-waste fee revenues are a special fund “held for the statutory solid-waste purposes and not available for diversion to unrelated county purposes.”
The referral also states that the position was eliminated in the amended budget recently adopted by the Seward County Commission. The reduction can be seen in the reduced expenditures approved for the Administration portion of the budget.
If the position was eliminated by removing its funding, according to the referral, then having the compensation provided by a restricted fund like the landfill conflicts with the budget authority for the administrative department.
During the June 1 Seward County Commission meeting, Stanton made six motions, one of which requested the commission get a legal opinion from County Counsel Forest Rhodes on whether or not the assistant administrator’s position can be funded from the restricted landfill/solid waste funds. None of his motions received a second.
The referral asks Hassenbank to review if the law is being followed.
If not, those not complying with the law could face prosecution for misallocating restricted landfill/solid waste funds, and statutes list penalties of up to $5,000 per day to the county for the length of time it has not been in compliance as well as immediate removal from public office if a judge rules the funding of an administrative position with restricted landfill/solid waste funds is illegal.
