Kansas Antiquities Act Statute
K. S. A. 74-5401 through 74-5408
[from Kansas Statutes Annotated]
74-5401. Definitions. As used in this act, the term "antiquities" shall mean historic or prehistoric ruins, burial areas, and other archeological sites, including evidence of such features as constructions or inscriptions by human agency or other evidence of human activity having antiquity; and "commission" shall mean the antiquities commission created by this act. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 1; July 1)
74-5402. Establishment; composition; secretary; no additional compensation. There is hereby established a Kansas antiquities commission, to be composed of the following persons or their designated representatives: The secretary of the state historical society, who shall be the chairman thereof; the heads of the departments of anthropology of the university of Kansas, Kansas state university and Wichita state university; and the state archeologist on the staff of the state historical society, who shall be the secretary of the commission. Members of the commission shall receive no added compensation for their services. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 2; July 1)
74-5403. Certain acts prohibited without authorization. No individual, institution or corporation shall excavate in, remove material from, vandalize or deface any site or area set out in section 1 (74-5401) hereof, on lands belonging to or controlled by the state of Kansas or any agency thereof, or to any county or municipality in the state, or on lands in which a qualified agency is conducting scientific archeological investigations, without specific authorization. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 3; July 1)
74-5404. Permits, written request, requirements. Permits may be granted by the commission, through its secretary, under such limitations and for such periods of time as he may determine, to educational or research institutions, public museums or nonprofit corporations organized for scientific and research purposes. They may be authorized to excavate, remove materials, or otherwise scientifically investigate by recognized professional techniques if, in the opinion of the commission, they have the professional staff and the laboratory, storage and/or museum display facilities to make available to the public the professional knowledge gained and to preserve permanently all objects, photographs and other records of their investigations in public repositories under their own supervision or control. Permits may be issued only after approval of a formal written request detailing the purposes of the proposed investigation, the location in which it is to be conducted, the sponsoring agency, and the professional personnel to be in charge. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 4; July 1)
74-5405. Agencies authorized ipso facto to conduct scientific investigations. Agencies represented by the members of the commission shall ipso facto have permission to conduct scientific investigations, and other official agencies of the state of Kansas which employ a specifically entitled archeological research staff and which have facilities for laboratory and storage and for publication of scientific reports shall also have such ipso facto permission. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 5; July 1)
74-5406. Artifacts and materials recovered to be submitted to historical society, when. Artifacts and other materials recovered from such scientific investigations, if and when they are not needed or are no longer desired for retention by the original investigating agency, shall be submitted to the state historical society for preservation if the society so desires. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 6; July 1)
74-5407. Reports of discoveries; preservation. It shall be the responsibility of any person in charge of any survey, excavation or construction on any of the above defined lands, and he is hereby required, to report discoveries of objects, ruins or other antiquities to the secretary of the commission or, in the informant's discretion, to one of the other members of the commission. The reporting official shall take all reasonable precautions to preserve the discovery until it can be investigated by the commission or its designated agent. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 7; July 1)
74-5408. Penalties for violations of act. Any person, institution or corporation violating any provision of this act shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars ($500) or imprisonment not to exceed six (6) months, or both. All material collected from the site by a convicted offender shall be delivered to the Kansas state historical society. (L. 1967, ch. 433, sect. 8; July 1)
