The Public Works and Safety Standing Committee on Monday voted to approve repeal of four outdated sections of the Unified Government Code of Ordinances that staff say were rendered void by a 2015 change in state law.

The measure received unanimous committee approval after a presentation by Casey Meyer of the Unified Government legal department, who asked the committee to "repeal sections 22 1 87, 22 two-one 188, 20 two-one 189, 20 two-one 190 of the Unified Government Code of Ordinances" because the language is "currently null and void" following amendments to state law in February 2015.

Meyer told the committee the 2015 amendments to the Personal and Family Protection Act (state statute referenced in the meeting as KSA 75 7 c 10) made certain local prohibitions on carrying firearms unenforceable, and that the Unified Government’s code update at the time did not remove the older ordinance text. "It appears to have just been a Scribner's error," Meyer said, and the police department and other law enforcement agencies have not enforced those sections since the statute changed.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about whether the repeal would change local enforcement powers; Meyer answered that the action is intended to clean up the code and bring it into compliance with state statute. The committee chair asked about publication timing; the clerk responded that publication in the official Unified Government newspaper is usually the Thursday after the item goes through full commission.

The committee made the repeal an action item, moved and seconded the motion for approval, and the clerk called the roll. The minutes record that Commissioners Gonzales, Lopez and Burns voted aye; Commissioner Stites was noted as absent; Commissioner Burrows voted aye. The motion passed and the item will be published in the official Unified Government newspaper as part of the ordinance process.

No public comment on the repeal was received either in advance or during the meeting, the clerk said when the chair asked for public input.

The repeal is procedural: staff described it as removing obsolete language that conflicts with state law rather than altering any current enforcement policy. The Unified Government will publish the repeal in its official newspaper as the next step in making the code change effective.