Incidents of retaliation against tenants by landlords are catching the eye of the Wichita city council. “We are aware of a couple of slum lords that continue to do these things,” says District 1 city council member Brandon Johnson. “And unfortunately, there’s only state law, but there’s no state enforcement. And that’s why we’re looking at trying to do something on the local level to give some form of municipal justice to this injustice.” The council is set to vote on a proposed ordinance to fine landlords found to be using retaliatory practices. The fine would begin at $250 on the first offense, and would continue to go up if the landlord kept retaliating. Nate Johnson with the city’s law department says, however, that this wouldn’t just be for retaliatory evictions. “Things like diminished services, increased rent, and all of that done in response to normally a request to make the place more habitable,” Johnson said. Brandon Johnson said that while the issue of retaliatory evictions is important, it’s only one of many problems with hosing in Wichita. “Hopefully, these types of ordinances will allow people to push back in a way that gets those slumlords to stop acting that way, or eventually get somebody who’s a better owner or manager of property to buy those properties from,” Johnson said. Johnson said that he intends to vote for this new ordinance at the full meeting on December 19th.
Source: KAKE – News

After nearly three decades serving in various capacities with the Arkansas City Police Department, Chief Eric Burr has announced his retirement, effective January 1. Burr has been with the department since 1996, initially as a patrol officer, and then working his way up to becoming the D.A.R.E. Officer for Arkansas City schools, detective, sergeant, lieutenant, accreditation manager for CALEA (the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies), and support services captain before becoming Chief in 2021. Burr began his journey in law enforcement in 1993, when he worked for the City as an assistant code enforcement officer while also attending Butler County Community College. He then started his career in Anthony in 1995, and attended the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center the following year. “During my career, I most enjoyed teaching students in the classroom about making good decisions and staying safe by delivering the D.A.R.E. program. The relationships I was able to build with students and staff had a positive effect on me. So much so that I recently went back to the classroom to teach one last time before retirement. The concepts taught in the D.A.R.E. program help students build a framework for avoiding dangerous situations in the future,” Chief Burr said. In addition, Burr founded the Suicide Prevention of Cowley County Coalition, and is an advocate for prevention work with youth through the Hope Squad program, as well as being a Big Brother through the Bigs in Blue program.
Source: KAKE – News