The Changing of the Guard: A Brief History of the Bank Commissioner
By: Judi M. Stork, Deputy Bank Commissioner
The Office of the State Bank Commissioner came into existence in 1891 by act of the State Legislature, with its duties being the supervision of the state banks of Kansas and the many private banks then in operation. Since it was established, the OSBC has had 40 different Commissioners. The first was Charles F. Johnson from Oskaloosa, who served from March 1891 through March 1893. The first report published by Commissioner Johnson in 1892 showed the OSBC supervised 281 state banks and 163 private banks. In addition, the OSBC had been appointed receiver of four banks.
Throughout history, the OSBC and the Commissioner have had various duties and challenges. The OSBC has supervised a wide variety of entities, which in the past included private banks, building and loan companies, credit unions, savings and loan companies and securities firms. Today the OSBC governs state-chartered banks, trust companies, money transmitter companies, mortgage companies, supervised lenders and credit service organizations. The Commissioner has dealt with a wide variety of issues including: bank robbers; the establishment of the Bank Guaranty Fund, which was "to provide absolute security for the money entrusted to the care of the bank"; the introduction of FDIC insurance; the creation of the state banking board in 1925; numerous bank failures, banking panics, bank holidays; the failure and liquidation of the Bank Guaranty Fund; and many revisions and recodifications of the banking code. The agency has changed in size over the years as well. When first established, the Commissioner and a Deputy Commissioner were the only employees of the agency. By 1902 the staff increased to six, and then again to 19 by 1920. Today, the OSBC has 90 employees.
The longest serving Commissioner was B. A. Welch from the State Bank of Kingman, who served from April 1941 through June 1951. The Commissioner with the shortest tenure was F.O. Oberg from the Union State Bank, Clay Center. He served from January through August 1955. The OSBC has had two Commissioners who served for more than one appointment, but not consecutive terms. The first was John A. O'Leary, Sr. who served from June 1958 to June 1963, and again from July 1967 to December 1968. The second was W. Newton Male, with terms from August 1987 to March 1991 and again from November 1995 to November 1998. The OSBC has also had three Acting Commissioners - the first Gordon Lindley, who served from September 1955 to January 1956. Ben Hogan served in that capacity twice - for the month of April in 1975 and again for approximately two weeks in July 1976. Judi Stork served three times - for a year starting in December 1998, for a month in March 2003, and is currently serving in that capacity. The requirements for serving as Commissioner have also changed over the years with the most recent changes occurring in 1999. Currently, the Commissioner must attend to the duties of the office on a full time basis, have no active participation at a bank, and cannot serve on a bank's board of directors. The statute also requires the Commissioner to have at least five years of past experience as an executive officer in a Kansas bank. The Commissioner serves at the pleasure of the Governor, with no set term, and is confirmed to the position by the Senate. The most common city from which Commissioners hailed is Topeka (eight), followed by two from Kansas City, two from Luray, and two from Augusta. The most common family name of Commissioners is O'Leary with John A. O'Leary, Sr. serving two terms, and Carl O'Leary and John O'Leary, Jr. serving one term each.
