Kansas. Board of Railroad Commissioners

The Board of Railroad Commissioners was created in 1883 and consisted of three members appointed by the Executive Council. The board was abolished on January 11, 1899 and its duties were transferred to the Court of Visitation. The court had jurisdiction over all questions concerning the regulation of railroads and telegraph service in the State. On May 12, 1900, the court was abolished after the Circuit Court of the United States and the Supreme Court of the State of Kansas deemed it to be unconstitutional. In 1901, the Board of Railroad Commissioners was reestablished as a three-member body appointed by the Executive Council. The board became the Public Utilities Commission in 1911, which was then in 1933 reorganized as the present-day State Corporation Commission. [Wilder, Bessie. Governmental Agencies of the State of Kansas, 1861-1946. Lawrence, Ks: Bureau of Government Research, University of Kansas, 1946.]