(a) Any county of this state may establish a county law library, under the provisions of and subject to the qualifications of this act. Any law library in existence on the effective date of this act which was established under previously existing statutes or previous versions of this statute shall be governed by this statute, and amendments thereto, on and after the effective date of this act.

(b) No county law library shall be established under the provisions of this act until a majority of the attorneys required to register in such county and admitted to practice before the bar in Kansas elect to do so, except that, where a county law library has already been established pursuant to other statutory provisions, such library shall come under the provisions of this act.

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(c) All attorneys required to register in such county shall register annually with the clerk of the district court in a register kept for that purpose. The clerk shall enter the name, place of residence, employment, location of office and firm connection, if any, of each such attorney. All such attorneys shall register within 30 days after an election has been made to provide for a county law library, and on or before January 15 of each year thereafter. All attorneys required to register, except those employed solely as public defenders by the state board of indigents’ defense services, shall pay to the clerk at the time of registering an annual registration fee of not less than $10 nor more than $75, as determined by the trustees of the law library, except that in Sedgwick and Johnson counties, each attorney shall pay to such clerk at the time of registering an annual registration fee of not less than $25 nor more than $125, as determined by the trustees of the law library. Public defenders are exempt from the registration fee during their employment with the state board of indigents’ defense services. A registration fee in excess of the amount prescribed in this subsection annually may be fixed by a majority of the attorneys registered under the provisions of this act. A schedule of current registration fees shall be filed with the clerk of the district court.

(d) Whenever a law library has been established in any county, the clerk of the district court, or the clerk of any inferior court within such county, shall not file in the clerk’s office in any matter or action, any pleading or other papers signed by an attorney required to register under this act who has not so registered and paid to the clerk of the district court the required registration fee.

(e) For the purposes of this section, an attorney shall be required to be registered in the county: (1) Where the attorney’s principal office is located, if such attorney is a resident of Kansas or a resident of another state; or (2) where the attorney resides, if such attorney’s principal office is located in another state. The principal office shall be the principal office of the attorney and not the principal office of such attorney’s firm.