Lawrence human relations staff outlines complaint intake, timelines and recent source-of-income cases

At the April 16, 2025 meeting of the Lawrence Human Relations Commission, Senior Assistant City Attorney Zach Bridal reviewed the city's complaint intake, investigation and enforcement process under Chapter 10 of the City Code and provided updates on recent housing-related cases, including an appeal of the source-of-income ordinance.

Bridal said the Human Relations Division's aim is compliance and early conciliation. "Everything we do in the human relations division is under chapter 10 of the city code of Lawrence," he said, and described a primarily complaint-driven process that begins with intake and can proceed through investigation, conciliation, a public hearing before commissioners or litigation in district court.

The intake step is handled by the division's intake attorney, Deborah Barnes, who reviews standing and jurisdictional elements, Bridal said. Investigations are contracted to an outside investigator, Laura Bridal Pabst, who may conduct site visits, interviews and document collection. Bridal said the division must meet statutory timelines: complaints must be timely (he cited 90 days for public-accommodation and employment complaints and one year for housing), and investigators must proceed according to the city code so findings hold up if the matter proceeds to court.

Bridal described conciliation as the preferred early outcome. "We're always trying to conciliate. We're always trying to resolve the situation as soon as possible," he said. If…