County hides price of land sale
Staff writer
Marion County may have violated Kansas law Monday by failing to disclose the amount offered for a property owned by the county’s land bank.
One commissioner asked to go into a closed-door, executive session to discuss, and potentially accept, the offer for the piece of land.
County Administrator Tina Spencer objected, stating, “We don’t have the ability to do that.”
“We can talk in general terms as far as the offer, and what you think about it,” she said.
Commissioners all had copies of the offer, but failed to disclose the sale price publicly during the meeting.
They unanimously voted to accept it.
Lyle Leppke, a local auctioneer, broker, and licensed appraiser who presented the offer, said, “If you guys have a copy of it, then you know what the price is, and the offer is.”
That comment negated commissioners’ attempts at secrecy, according to an expert in the state’s open meetings law.
“Once the purchase price was referenced in the meeting, even opaquely, the county has an obligation to disclose the information related to the sale under the Kansas Open Records Act,” Max Kautsch, attorney for the Kansas Press Association, told the Record.
The Record requested the document containing the offer Monday, but has yet to receive it.
The 8.33-acre property, located north of the “poor farm” at the intersection of Old Mill Rd. and 160th St., has an appraised value listed at $30,410 for 2026. It has two tool sheds built in 1940.
The buyers were not named during the meeting.