A new state law will soon void a Lawrence city ordinance that has helped some residents with low incomes find housing over the past three years.
Senate Bill 391 will declare the city’s embattled source of income discrimination ordinance null and void on July 1.
The Lawrence City Commission in February 2023 approved an ordinance that created a protected class based on renters’ source of income. That could include housing vouchers, settlements, benefits, subsidies, Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers and more.
It went into effect in June 2023, and it meant that landlords could not deny someone housing based solely on the source of their rent payments, and voucher holders should be equally considered for housing.
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Local housing advocates had anticipated that the protections could significantly help lessen Lawrence’s housing and homelessness crises, because many families who qualified for housing vouchers were unable to find landlords who would accept them at the time.
The ordinance has helped — Shannon Oury, CEO of the Lawrence-Douglas County Housing Authority, said Friday that the organization’s voucher utilization was at 94% when the ordinance was first adopted. It returned to 99% within eight months, she said.
“We believe this was significantly due to the Ordinance and the fact that several new large Low Income Tax Credit developments became available to voucher holders,” Oury said via email.
The ordinance held up under challenges in Kansas courts.
An association of 30-plus local landlords filed a lawsuit against the city in May 2023 trying to overturn the ordinance, but Douglas County District Judge Mark Simpson ruled in May 2024 that it could stand. A panel of Kansas Court of Appeals judges upheld Simpson’s ruling in May 2025, and the Kansas Supreme Court declined to review the case in September.
But Overland Park-based Tower Properties Company filed a federal lawsuit against the city in January, then took the matter to the Kansas Legislature in February.
Tower Properties owns more than 540 units in the city — Harper Square Apartments, Hutton Farms, Tuckaway and Briarwood of Lawrence, according to documents on file with the state.
Stan Weber, CEO and president of Tower Properties, told legislators he does not want to be forced to participate in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development programs, Kansas Reflector reported. If the Legislature didn’t pass SB 391, “I have a fiduciary responsibility to say we’ve got to go with our money to other places,” Weber said during a hearing.
Senate Bill 391 prohibits cities and counties from adopting or enforcing any ordinance that prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to someone because their rent payments will include a housing choice voucher “or any other housing assistance program in which participation by a landlord is voluntary.”
SB 391 — requested by Sen. Mike Thompson, a Johnson County Republican — also says cities cannot pass ordinances to restrict landlords’ ability to consider applicants’ credit scores or eviction histories, or to limit the amount of security deposit they can require.
Mark Tomb, a lobbyist for the Kansas Association of Realtors, had introduced a similar bill in the House.
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Tower and several other landlords and their attorneys pushed for SB 391’s passage. Despite Lawrence-area representatives and others arguing that SB 391 encroached on home rule and created barriers to housing access, legislators overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto of the bill last month.
“The City maintains that local control, which is vested in the state constitution as home rule authority, is the best way to address local issues, instead of wide-ranging mandates from the legislature,” Lawrence city officials said in an emailed response to questions.
City commissioners, too, have sometimes lamented state laws that limit what the city can do to try to improve life for renters and other residents. As another example, Kansas municipalities cannot implement rent controls because of a state law (KSA 12-16120).
Since the ordinance took effect, the city pursued civil cases against landlords who denied prospective tenants’ housing based on their source of income.
One case ended with a settlement and a young woman finding housing at a different apartment complex from the one where she’d sought to use vouchers. Another was still ongoing, but parties agreed to dismiss the case after SB 391 passed. It’s not clear how many cases may have been resolved prior to the city filing public court cases.
Tower Properties and the city also stipulated to dismissal of the federal case following the bill’s passage.
It’s not yet clear what the change will mean for voucher holders seeking housing, “but we believe we have built positive relationships with the landlords that accept vouchers,” Oury said.
She said the housing authority will continue outreach through its Landlord Liaison program and encourage landlords to participate with its programs.
A landlord education event is set for 11 a.m. Friday, May 22 at the Flory Meeting Hall at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, and all landlords are invited to attend, she said.
Another part of the city’s 2023 ordinance change bans discrimination based on prospective tenants’ immigration status or their status as a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or stalking. The change added those protected classes to race, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability and more that already existed in city codes. SB 391 does not invalidate any of those protections.
“The City remains dedicated to enforcing anti-discrimination ordinances in Lawrence and will continue to use whatever tools are available to help ensure fair housing practices are followed,” city officials said.
People can find more information or file a complaint at lawrenceks.gov/human-relations/.
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Mackenzie Clark (she/her), reporter/founder of The Lawrence Times, can be reached at [email protected]. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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Resources for renters and tenants
Tenant issues and rights:
• Read about the rights Kansas tenants have and issues that could come up before, during and after tenancy from Kansas Legal Services.
• Find more info and connect with Lawrence Tenants.
Evictions:
• Learn about the eviction process from the Kansas Judicial Branch at this link.
• Check out the self-help page on the Douglas County District Court’s website at dgcoks.gov/district-court/self-help for resources and helpful forms.
• Find the Kansas Judicial Branch’s eviction expungement portal online at this link.
City of Lawrence fair housing help:
• Find information about the city’s fair housing civil rights enforcement procedures and a form to initiate a complaint on the city’s website at lawrenceks.org/attorney/fairhousing, or call 785-832-3310.
Rental assistance:
• Apply for help from the Douglas County Housing Stabilization Collaborative via the county’s website at this link.
• Apply for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, LIEAP, at this link during colder months to help cover home energy costs.
• Find more resources to help with rent and utility payments on the Lawrence Public Library’s website.
News coverage:
• See the latest articles from The Lawrence Times on the following topics: homelessness and housing; renter rights; source of income discrimination; affordable housing; tenant right to counsel
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