14 September 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — A workshop in Wichita this Saturday will help people get suspended driver’s licenses back. But organizers say it is possible that some people who show up will not get through the door.
The Wichita Racial Profiling Advisory Board is sponsoring the event at Atwater Center, 2755 E. 19th Street North, Saturday, Sept. 16, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“Our workshops are typically so full, we’re actually having to turn people away, and we hope that we don’t have to turn too many people away this time,” Faith Martin, advisory board, said.
Mayor Brandon Whipple said roughly 50,000 Wichitans have suspended driver’s licenses as of last December. He said people with revoked licenses over unpaid tickets or missed court dates still need to work.
“We want them getting to work,” Whipple said. “We want them to not be a pathway towards poverty or homelessness.”
He said getting residents back on track is good for the whole community.
Martin said six attorneys are volunteering their time at the workshop. Citizens can file a hardship application and find out if they qualify.
“Usually, the line is quite long to sit with an attorney, but that attorney will help you look up those things,” she said. “While you’re waiting to see an attorney, you can hear from our wonderful panelists to learn all different sorts of things.”
The panel includes Kansas Senator Oletha Faust-Goudeau and representatives from the Kansas Department of Revenue Driver’s License Division, the Wichita Police Department, and the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.
“You can learn about the walk-in docket. You can find out information from the jail. Each panelist will have different information,” Martin said. “The wonderful thing is that all the data that we pull from this workshop will help us as we go to the statehouse to try to help people that have revoked licenses next year.”