K.S.A. § 58-4611 requires a Kansas association to hold an annual meeting of unit owners, and it gives owners a real trigger for a special meeting: the president, a majority of the board, or unit owners holding at least 10% of the votes (or a lower percentage the bylaws set) can demand the secretary call one. If the association doesn't notify owners of that special meeting within 30 days, the requesting owners can notify everyone themselves, a genuine self-help remedy against a board that just ignores the request. Notice of any annual or special meeting has to go out 10 to 60 days ahead, spelling out the time, date, place, and agenda, including any proposed declaration or bylaw amendment, budget changes, or a proposal to remove an officer or board member. Owners must also get a reasonable chance to comment on any matter at the meeting.
Board meetings get their own open-meeting rule. K.S.A. § 58-4612 requires board and committee meetings to be open to owners except during a narrow executive session, allowed only to consult the association's attorney, discuss existing or potential litigation, handle personnel matters, negotiate contracts, or protect someone's privacy, and no final vote can happen in that closed session. The statute specifically blocks the board from using 'incidental or social gatherings' to dodge the open-meeting requirement. Materials distributed to the board ahead of a meeting generally have to be made available to owners too.
Quorum, proxies, and a real deadline to challenge a bad meeting
Unless your bylaws say otherwise, K.S.A. § 58-4613 sets a 20% quorum for owner meetings (counting proxies and timely absentee ballots) and a majority-of-the-board quorum for board meetings, with Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised as the fallback procedure. Voting mechanics come from § 58-4614: owners can vote in person, by secret ballot, absentee ballot, proxy, or, when there's no meeting, electronic or paper ballot. The proxy rules include a real anti-concentration cap: nobody other than a board member can cast undirected proxies representing more than 15% of the association's votes, and a proxy is void if it's undated or claims to be irrevocable without notice.
There's a real deadline worth knowing either way. Section 58-4612(j) says a board action isn't automatically invalid just because the meeting didn't strictly comply with the open-meeting rules, but a challenge to that action has to be brought within 60 days of the minutes being approved or the record of the action being distributed, whichever is later. That cuts both ways: it's your remedy if the board cut corners, and it's a real clock you can lose if you sit on it. Board removal has its own protections too. K.S.A. § 58-4619 lets owners remove a director or officer with or without cause by majority vote at a properly noticed meeting, but the person facing removal gets a reasonable chance to speak before the vote is taken.
The authority
The statutes behind this
Cited by name as authority, for your own reading. Informational only, not legal advice.
K.S.A. § 58-4611
Requires an annual owner meeting, gives owners a 10%-of-the-vote trigger for a special meeting, and sets the meeting notice and agenda requirements.
K.S.A. § 58-4612
Requires open board and committee meetings with only narrow executive-session exceptions, bars using social gatherings to evade that rule, and sets a 60-day deadline to challenge a noncompliant board action.
K.S.A. § 58-4613
Sets a default 20% owner quorum and majority-of-the-board quorum, with Robert's Rules of Order as the fallback procedure.
K.S.A. § 58-4614
Governs voting methods, absentee ballots, and proxies, including a 15% cap on undirected proxies held by anyone other than a board member.
Step by step
How to assert your meeting and voting rights in Kansas
The notice-and-participation path to hold a Kansas association accountable at meetings and votes.
- 01
Confirm the meeting was properly noticed
Check the notice against § 58-4611 (10-to-60-day window, required agenda items) for owner meetings and § 58-4612 for board meetings.
- 02
Use the special-meeting trigger if the board won't act
Gather signatures from unit owners holding at least 10% of the votes (or your bylaws' lower threshold) and demand the secretary call a special meeting under § 58-4611(b). If nothing happens within 30 days, you can notify owners yourselves.
- 03
Check quorum and proxy math before a contested vote
Confirm the 20% owner quorum (or your bylaws' number) under § 58-4613, and watch for any single non-board proxy holder controlling more than the 15% cap in § 58-4614(c)(6).
- 04
Insist on open decision-making
Object in writing if binding business is happening in an unnoticed gathering or an executive session outside the narrow categories § 58-4612(a) allows.
- 05
Watch the 60-day clock
If you're challenging a board action for a meeting-procedure defect, act within 60 days of the minutes being approved or the record being distributed, per § 58-4612(j), or you may lose the right to challenge it.
Straight answers
Common questions
Can I force my Kansas association to hold a special meeting?
Yes. K.S.A. § 58-4611(b) lets the president, a majority of the board, or owners holding at least 10% of the votes demand one, and if the association doesn't notify owners within 30 days, the requesting owners can send the notice themselves.
Can the board meet behind closed doors?
Only in a narrow executive session, limited to attorney consultation, pending or potential litigation, personnel matters, active contract negotiations, or protecting someone's privacy, under § 58-4612(a). No final vote can happen there, and the board can't use social gatherings to dodge the open-meeting rule.
What's the quorum for an owners' meeting in Kansas?
Twenty percent of the association's votes, counting proxies and timely absentee ballots, unless your bylaws set a different number (K.S.A. § 58-4613(a)).
Can one person control the vote through proxies?
Not entirely. K.S.A. § 58-4614(c)(6) caps anyone other than a board member from casting undirected proxies representing more than 15% of the association's total votes.
How long do I have to challenge a board vote that wasn't properly noticed?
Sixty days from when the minutes of that meeting are approved or the record of the action is distributed to owners, whichever comes later (K.S.A. § 58-4612(j)). After that, the action generally stands even if the meeting rules were broken.