City of Wichita votes to amend residency requirement, allowing remote and hybrid workers to live across the state

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Residency Requirement for the City of Wichita has been the same since 1994. On Tuesday, the City of Wichita City Council voted to amend it.

The old residency requirement states the following:

The Wichita City Council passed a resolution that requires all City employees hired on and after April 12, 1994, shall either live within the corporate limits of Wichita, or within 30 minutes lawful driving time of the corporate limits of the City, by the most direct route.

Such employees are to maintain their residence according to the requirements of the ordinance as long as the City of Wichita employs them.”

City of Wichita

The Senior Human Resource Specialist for the City of Wichita, Pam Pennington, asked for the amendment to the residency requirement to allow for more remote work possibilities.

“We are hoping that this will help widen our recruiting pool for certain positions, not all,” said Pennington.

She also said it would help with retaining current employees, who would be grandfathered into the amendment.

“I do think this will help us to attract and retain talent,” said District 2 Council Member Becky Tuttle.

Pennington said departments that could benefit from the amendment include finance and IT.

The city council voted 7-0 to pass the amendment.