SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON SENATE BILL NO. 424
As Recommended by Senate Committee on
Transportation
Brief*
SB 424 would adopt the most recent system of plane
coordinates, amend statutes regarding the state plane
coordinate system, and establish the Kansas Plane
Coordinate System Act. [Note: These systems are used in
descriptions of land tracts.]
The bill would adopt the most recent system of plane
coordinates established by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s National Geodetic Survey, or a
successor agency, as the Kansas Plane Coordinate System.
This system would be used to define and state the
geographic positions or locations of points on, within, or
above the surface of the Earth (Section 4).
The bill would amend statutes referencing the Kansas
Coordinate System 1983 or the Kansas Coordinate System to
reference the Kansas Plane Coordinate System (Sections 5,
6, 7, and 9).
The bill would require a land description to name the
Kansas Plane Coordinate System and the zone and, if
applicable, the geodetic datum and epoch of the coordinates
in decimal years (Section 5).
The bill would authorize expression of a position to be in
distances expressed in feet or decimals of a foot as well as in
meters and decimals of a meter, as in current law. The bill
would define the standard foot for the Kansas Plane
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*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org Coordinate System and describe the expression of distances
and heights (Section 6).
The bill would describe the Kansas Coordinate Systems
of 1983 and 1927, the zones within them, values used within
them, and the origins of the coordinates (New Section 2).
The bill would require, rather than permit, any tract of
land defined by a single description and extending into any
adjacent zones to be referred exclusively to only one of the
zones (Section 8).
The bill would also state it shall not be construed to
prohibit the appropriate use of other datums and other
geodetic reference networks established by a state agency or
a county (New Section 1). The bill would name all current
statutes regarding the state plan coordinate system and the
sections that would be added by the bill as the Kansas Plane
Coordinate System Act (New Section 3).
Background
The bill was introduced by the Senate Committee on
Transportation at the request of Senator Petersen on behalf
of the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT).
Senate Committee on Transportation
In the Senate Committee hearing, proponent testimony
was provided by representatives of the Board of Technical
Professions, KDOT, Kansas Geological Survey, and Kansas
Society of Land Surveyors. Proponents stated the changes
would account for future changes to mapping standards,
improve accuracy and efficiency for those utilizing the
standards, and be consistent with National Geodetic Survey
standards.
2- 424 Written-only proponent testimony was received from a
representative of the American Council of Engineering
Companies of Kansas.
No other testimony was provided.
The Senate Committee recommended the bill be placed
on the Consent Calendar.
Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget, enactment of the bill would not have a fiscal
effect on KDOT operations.
Geodetic references; location description; geographic position
3- 424