Kobach warns Wichita to change its rules on political signs or else

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach has issued a warning to the state’s largest city ahead of its August primary elections for mayor and city council: stop breaking state law or face legal action.

But Wichita Mayor Brandon Whipple said it’s a political stunt aimed at stirring up controversy ahead of his re-election campaign.

“Kobach has a reputation of engaging in lawsuits that are losing causes,” Whipple said. “I would put any one of our legal staff up against Kobach any day of the week. But our focus is not on the politics; it’s on the protection and safety of the members of our community.”

At issue is a 2017 Wichita ordinance that regulates political signs on public and private property. The city requires permits for placing political signs. It doesn’t allow placement of political signs in public rights-of-way, including the first 18 feet of private property from the curb along city streets. It also limits the number of political signs someone can display on private property.

The city’s sign ordinance directly conflicts with a state law passed in 2015 that says no local governments can regulate or prohibit the placement or number of signs on private property or unpaved rights-of-way on private property in the 45 days leading up to an election and two days afterward.

In a letter addressed to Whipple, Kobach’s office demanded a response by late June, about a month out from the city’s primary election. Whipple, a Democrat who faces eight opponents in the August primary, would not commit to any changes to the sign ordinance during a phone interview.

“We are not going to allow signs that are going to disrupt the view of drivers so that we wind up increasing pedestrian accidents,” Whipple said.

“Once we actually get the letter and figure out what our legal team says, then we’ll take it from there,” Whipple said. “I support the First Amendment, and I support public safety, and that’s the bottom line. There’s a balance.”

Whipple was not on the city council when the sign ordinance was passed. The 2017 City Council knew the ordinance was in conflict with state law, and it still passed 7-0.

Wichita adopted the ordinance in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that ruled cities can’t regulate signs based on content. Instead of dropping its restrictions on political signs, Wichita passed blanket prohibitions and restrictions on all temporary signs.

The Kansas Attorney General’s Office said in the letter that Wichita’s workaround violates state law.

“The City’s sign code is illegal,” the letter, signed by Chief Deputy Attorney General Daniel E. Burrows, says.

“State law is clear that a city may not ‘prohibit the placement of or the number of political signs on private property or the unpaved right-of-way for city streets” for 45 days leading up to any election or two days afterwards, the AG’s letter says.

“We know the City is aware of this law. The City even acknowledges that its sign code is inconsistent with the state statute. The City prohibits all ‘temporary signs’ (a phrase that includes most political signs) on rights-of-way and also limits the number of such signs a person may have on private property.”

The letter ends by asking Whipple to reply by June 26 — 37 days before the primary.

“We hope that you can assure us the City will cease its willful violation of section 25-2711. But if the City intends to continue breaking the law, the Attorney General will take appropriate action.”

A spokesman for Kobach’s office declined to comment further.

“The letter speaks for itself,” John Milburn, spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office, said in an email.

The letter was first made public by Derby Republican Rep. Blake Carpenter, who shared a copy of it on Facebook, adding that he is “thrilled to witness Attorney General Kobach taking a firm stance against those who openly flout the law.”

“Exciting news for the citizens of Wichita,” he said in the Facebook post. “Today, the Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach sent a letter to the City of Wichita- Government, urging them to immediately halt their unlawful practice of removing political signs during an election period. Last autumn, I, along with other dedicated legislators from the Wichita area, exposed their violations of state law. Shockingly, they tried to defend their actions by claiming they were interpreting a Supreme Court case differently and blatantly disregarding our state laws.”

Loosening local regulations on political signs has been a pet project for Carpenter and Sedgwick County Commissioner Jim Howell, also of Derby, for several years.

Howell said the signs are protected by the constitution.

“It’s a First Amendment freedom issue and a private property rights issue,” Howell said. “There’s no reason Wichita should be banning them in the right-of-way or removing them from private property. If they’re not causing a safety problem, the city should not be involved in any way.”

Howell said Wichita’s ordinance also has other problems, such as charging candidates fines for illegally placed signs that have their names on them. Or charging them $25 to get them back.

“I have no idea what happens after someone gets a sign,” Howell said. “When I give them a sign, it becomes their property. You could have opposition or opponents who get ahold of your signs, and then they can try to get you in trouble. That needs to be changed, too.”