The bus stops here: Wichita cracks down on fights, underage drinking, nudity on party buses

The city of Wichita plans to start requiring licenses for party bus operators in an effort to curtail reckless passenger behavior that police say oftentimes crosses the line into criminality.

“Underage drinking, fights, disorderly conduct, violent crimes that include shootings, and other unsafe behavior,” said Travis Rakestraw, special investigations captain with the Wichita Police Department.

“By requiring a city of Wichita license for a party bus to operate, it will help control any businesses not willing or able to control its customers.”

The City Council voted 7-0 Tuesday to establish a new ordinance requiring entertainment vehicle operators to pay a $100 annual licensing fee and agree to a code of conduct for acceptable party bus behavior.

Kansas already regulates commercial vehicles, requiring inspections and insurance, but there are no state-level regulations for onboard activity.

The new city ordinance prohibits disorderly conduct, brawling, verbal threats or abuse towards pedestrians, drivers or other passengers, fighting, nudity, littering, alcohol violations, standing on the seat while the bus is in motion and other unruly behavior.

Passengers under 17 must be accompanied by an adult who is at least 21. Bus operators are prohibited from selling passengers alcohol or providing it as a complimentary service.

Alcoholic beverages cannot be consumed after 2:30 a.m. or after midnight if passengers under 21 are present on the bus.

Additionally, bus drivers cannot operate a vehicle with any amount of alcohol or illegal drugs in their system, and no exotic dancing for hire is allowed as entertainment on the bus or within 100 feet of the vehicle under the new ordinance.

“I do think that if the businesses have the backing of the city, then it makes it a little easier to talk to people,” Vice Mayor Mike Hoheisel said. “This isn’t something that’s in my control. It’s the city that’s controlling this right here, so I think it also helps back them up a little bit when they are trying to enforce their own rules and common sense rules that we’re looking at here today.”

Questions about enforcement

No party bus operators spoke in favor or opposition to the city regulation at Tuesday’s council meeting. But the city’s legal department reached out to applicable businesses several months ago to get input.

Based on their feedback, the proposed licensing fee was lowered and a provision that would have required bus operators to install cameras on all vehicles was dropped, along with a uniform requirement for drivers.

Kurtis Haynes, operations manager for Spot’s Party Bus, told The Eagle that most of the new regulations are common sense, and that Spot’s already enforced many of the rules, such as prohibiting fighting and serving alcohol after midnight with minors present.

“It seemed like a no-brainer to us, and that’s why we were very confused as to what called this [new ordinance] to mind,” Haynes said. “They made us aware of the stack of police reports that they have for party buses — you know, letting people off, they’re urinating in people’s yards and things along that line. It’s just things we don’t do that we wouldn’t dream of doing. We had no idea that other party bus companies were engaging in this activity, but they said they’re wasting a whole lot of police hours on calls like these.”

Rakestraw said 42 incidents related to party buses were reported in 2022, and 16 have been reported so far this year.

“We haven’t done a deep dive into what the exact role the party bus played in each of those, but we do know it happens enough . . . that we had to question, why isn’t there any oversight into how a party bus operates?” he said.

The new ordinance gives officers the right to immediate entry for inspection of party buses, whether or not passengers are on board, but it states a traffic stop “will not be initiated absent reasonable suspicion of an articulable crime or infraction.”

Haynes said he and other bus managers engaged by the city had questions about how enforcement would work.

“Can we be pulled over at a moment’s notice for a spot inspection? Because that puts all of our passengers at risk, sitting at the side of the road,” Haynes said.

Party bus licenses can be revoked, suspended or otherwise restricted if the operator fails to uphold the code of conduct, makes a false statement while obtaining or renewing licenses, refuses inspection or does not keep the vehicle in clean or safe conditions.

In lieu of suspending or revoking a license, the chief of police can also assess administrative fines of up to $1,500 to bus operators. Fines, revocations and suspensions can be appealed to the police chief and further appealed to the city clerk, who will schedule a hearing before the City Council.

Haynes said he’s not looking forward to paying an annual fee, but he considers the regulations worthwhile if they help people view party buses as a safe and fun alternative to driving.

“We’re willing to pay the fees and things like that that are necessary so that the party buses can be seen as a viable opportunity or an option for people to go out and party and not drink and drive, you know, and not have to worry about the transportation side and their safety as a whole,” he said. “Our buses hold approximately 30 people, and man, if we can keep 30 people who would maybe be behind the wheel off the road, then it’s worth it.”