I heard that the City and County will consolidate if a certain candidate is elected?

No, this rumor is false.

There are a number of steps that would be involved in city-county consolidation, like the one that took place in Kansas City, Kansas.

First, the creation of a commission to study and design how the merged organization would function and govern would be required. The commission must meet in public, and provide opportunities for all citizens to offer input.

Next, the Kansas Legislature would have to allow for an election to be held proposing the consolidation and considering the proposed consolidation plan.

Finally, the public would have to vote in an election and choose to become consolidated. The key aspect of this vote is that it must be approved by two groups, both the majority of the Atchison County citizens that live inside Atchison city limits and the majority of Atchison County citizens that live outside of the city limits.

So, what if a current City Commissioner runs for County Commission and wins? Can they serve on both the City and County Commission? No, a person cannot serve as both a City Commissioner and a County Commissioner at the same time. The current law on this is issue (K.S.A. 19-205), states, “no person holding any state, county, township or city office shall be eligible to the office of county commissioner in any county in this state.” In other words, any current Atchison City Commissioner would have to resign in order to be sworn in as an Atchison County Commissioner.