Kansas Attorney General Opinion 1992-016

ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL
February 3, 1992
ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 92- 16
The Honorable Sheila Frahm
State Senator, 40th District
State Capitol, 143-N
Topeka, Kansas 66612
Re: Wildlife, Parks and Recreation -- Department of
Wildlife and Parks; Organization and Powers --
Secretary of Wildlife and Parks; Qualifications
Synopsis: As used within the statute which sets
qualifications for the position of secretary of
Wildlife and Park, the term "education" refers, at
a minimum, to some measure of instruction received
at a school or college in wildlife, parks or
natural resources or a related field. Cited
herein: K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 32-801.
*
Dear Senator Frahm:
As chair of the senate confirmations committee, you ask our
opinion regarding whether a nominee for the position of
secretary of wildlife and parks meets the education criteria
established for that position by K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 32-801.
You inform us that the nominee's formal education extends to
completion of one year at a junior college; the course work
during that year is unspecified.
K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 32-801(b) provides:

"The secretary [of wildlife and parks]
shall be fully qualified by education,
training and experience in wildlife, parks
or natural resources, or a related field,
and shall have a demonstrated executive
and administrative ability to discharge
the duties of the office of the secretary.
. . .
As held in Leek v. Thomas, 217 Kan. 784 (1975) the
legislature has authority to establish requisite
qualifications for the secretary of wildlife and parks:
"The creation of various offices and
departments of government not otherwise
provided for in the Kansas Constitution is
a legislative function. It is also a
legislative function to determine the
qualifications of the officers and by whom
they shall be appointed and in what manner
they shall be appointed. The Kansas
Constitution contains no limitation on who
may be appointed, and there is no
constitutional restriction on the
legislature exercising its power as it
shall see fit." Syl. 11.
The enactment of K.S.A. 1991 Supp. 32-801(b) codified the
legislative determination of eligibility qualifications for
the secretary of wildlife and parks, which includes the
requirement that the secretary be "fully qualified by
education . . . in wildlife, parks, or natural resources, or a
related field."
Since the term "education" is not defined within K.S.A. 1991
Supp. 32-801(b), we turn to other generally accepted
definitions in order to construe its meaning within the
statute.
"It includes not only the narrow concept
of instruction, to which it was formerly
limited, but embraces all forms of human
experience, owing to the recognition of
the fact that every stimulus with its
corresponding reaction has a definition
effect on character. It may be either
mainly esthetic, ethical, intellectual,
physical, or technical, but to be most

satisfactory it must involve and develop
all of these sides of human capacity."
Weyl v. Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, C.C.A., 48 F.2d 811, 812 (2nd
Cir. 1931).
"'Education' is a broad and comprehensive
term with a variable and indefinite
meaning, and in its broadest significance
comprehends the acquisition of all
knowledge tending to develop and train the
individual, and, when used in this sense,
is not limited to the years of adolescence
or to instruction in schools, but in
common speech 'education' is far more
commonly associated with youth and the
instruction received from their teachers,
and is the general and formal word for
schooling, especially in an institution of
learning." New Britain Trust Co. v.
Stoddard, 179 A. 642, 643 (Conn.
1935).
"In a general sense, 'education' is
development of the whole nature of man,
physical, intellectual and moral, through
interaction with every phase of his
environment, but in a narrower sense it
means development of the powers or
capacities of mind through special
processes of training." In re
Everson's Will, 52 N.Y.S. 2d 395, 401
(N.Y. 1944).
In short, "education" comprehends not merely instruction
received at school or college, but the whole course of
training, moral, intellectual, and physical. Hooker v.
Parkin, 357 S.W.2d 534, 540 (Ark. 1962).
Each of these definitions acknowledges a broad meaning of the
term "education" within which is included the concept of
formal instruction at an educational institution. In
addition, we note that the legislature specified that the
secretary be "fully qualified" in three separate categories:
(1) education, (2) training and (3) experience. Because of
this legislative distinction, we opine that the educational
component refers to the narrower concept of education, i.e.
that of formal schooling.

The term "education" as used within K.S.A. 1991 Supp.
32-801(b) would thus refer, at a minimum, to some measure of
instruction received at a school or college in wildlife, parks
or natural resources, or a related field.
In our opinion, a person whose formal educational instruction
is limited to one year at a junior college is not fully
qualified in education in wildlife, parks or natural
resources, or a related field. Thus, such person would not be
statutorily qualified to serve as the secretary of wildlife
and parks.
Very truly yours,
ROBERT T. STEPHAN
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF KANSAS
Camille Nohe
Assistant Attorney General
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