TOPEKA – The Kansas Supreme Court yesterday upheld a 2008 law regulating the state’s one-call underground utility marking system, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said.

In the case, Kansas One-Call System Inc., the private company which operates the notification system, sued the State over the constitutionality of amendments to the Kansas Underground Utility Damage Prevention Act (KUUDPA), which were passed by the Legislature in 2008. While the One-Call System began as a voluntary association of utility companies, the system was enacted by statute in 1993, which made membership in the system mandatory for all utility providers. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit raised several constitutional challenges to the changes to the law made in 2008.

In an opinion released Thursday, the Court agreed with the State that these amendments were constitutional. Assistant Attorney General Chris Grunewald of Schmidt’s office argued the State’s case.