Gov. Sam Brownback has named outgoing Rep. Connie O’Brien to a seat on the Kansas Real Estate Commission.

O’Brien, R-Tonganoxie, served four terms in the Kansas House representing the 42nd District, which includes Eudora and eastern Douglas County. She was defeated for re-election in this year’s Republican primary by Jim Karleskint.

The Real Estate Commission is the licensing and regulatory agency that governs real estate agents in Kansas. The commission is made up of five members, one from each of the four congressional districts and one at-large member. O’Brien was named to the at-large seat.

By law, the commission must include at least three members who have been real estate brokers for five years, and one member who has never worked as a real estate broker. According to O’Brien’s legislative profile, she is a retired teacher who also worked as a private investigator.

According to the Real Estate Commission’s website, O’Brien was appointed on Oct. 3. The Brownback administration publicly announced the appointment Monday.

LCC approves expanded snack bar

People visiting the Statehouse will soon have a wider selection of snacks and refreshments available to them.

The Legislative Coordinating Council on Monday authorized developing space on the ground floor of the Statehouse, near the public entrance and visitor center, for an expanded snack bar, supplementing the one currently operated on the third floor between the House and Senate chambers.

The LCC, which is made up of top leaders from both parties in the House and Senate, agreed Monday to allocate space for the new snack bar, something that was originally planned as part of the decade-long Statehouse renovation project.

Tom Day, who heads Legislative Administrative Services, said the snack bar will be operated through the Business Enterprise Program of the Department for Children and Families. That’s the agency that administers the Randolph-Sheppard program in Kansas, which stems from a 1936 federal law that gives blind people first priority to operate vending facilities in public buildings.

The third-floor snack bar is typically only open during legislative sessions or days when a large number of legislators are meeting during the interim. It’s located in a small room off the rotunda, which makes it hard to accommodate a large volume of business at one time.

The only other food options in the building are a set of vending machines that sell chips, snack food and soft drinks located in a break room on the ground floor.

Day said the Statehouse gets about 90,000 visitors each year. Most of those come during the session, but there are also tour groups and random visitors who come throughout the year, and Day said many of them ask where they can find soft drinks and snacks.

For many years, the Statehouse snack bar was operated by Don Wistuba, but he closed his business last year, citing an inability to make enough money with lobby groups offering free catered meals to legislators during the session.

Since his departure, the snack bar has been operated by Michael Malloy, who will also be in charge of the new snack bar.

Day said that both the new and the third-floor snack bars will be open during legislative sessions, but the new ground-floor facility will be open throughout the year. He said officials hope the new snack bar will be open by March or April 2017.