Clearwater Cemetery District Reorganization
The Clearwater Cemetery District has been authorized by the State of Kansas to reorganize. The Clearwater Cemetery District consists of 4 cemeteries; Clearwater, Harrington, Ruby, & Noel. The district boundaries include the City of Clearwater, the Ninnescah Township and the Western half of the Ohio Township. The district board has three elected members, the Mayor of Clearwater, and the Trustees from the Ninnescah and Ohio Townships. The Ohio Township has asked the district to be reorganized to remove their township. The Ohio township residents within the district contribute roughly 27% of the tax base for the district, yet have only one very small and mostly inactive cemetery (Noel) in the township, which represents only 2% of the total district costs of maintenance. The Noel cemetery is titled to the City of Clearwater and will remain within the District.
Senate Bill 396 (SB396) was proposed for the specific purpose to allow for the district to reorganize. The bill was certified as law on April 2, 2026. The reorganization will be effective as of January 1, 2026 for taxing purposes. For the reorganization to take place the District Board must now adopt a Resolution. This action will happen at the District meeting on May 14, 2026.
With reorganization, the current board of three elected members will remain, but be changed to include the Mayor of the City of Clearwater, the Trustee of Ninnescah Township, and one member at-large that must reside within either the City of Clearwater or the Ninnescah Township boundaries. The first election would be 2026 regular election (November 2026) and then every 4 years thereafter. To fill the immediate vacancy (June through December 2026), the board will elect the third member at the June 11th meeting. Anyone interested in filling this position would appear at a scheduled board meeting, be nominated, and elected by the board.
If you have questions or would be interested in serving on the Board for the Clearwater Cemetery District, please contact the board secretary (Courtney) at 620-584-2311, or reach out to either me, or the Ninnescah Township Trustee for information.