ORDINANCE NO. 010457

Amending Article VII of the Administrative Code of Kansas City, Missouri, relating to Officers and Employees, by repealing Section 2-972, Residence of Employees, and enacting in lieu thereof one new section of like number and subject matter, which defines residence and permits waivers of the city residence requirement under specific circumstances.

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That Article VII of the Administrative Code of Kansas City, Missouri, relating to Officers and Employees, is hereby amended by repealing Section 2-972, and enacting in lieu thereof a new section to read as follows:

Sec. 2-972. Residence of employees.

The following conditions regulating residence shall apply to all nonelected city employees:

(a) Preference for employment shall be given to residents of the city for all positions in the classified service.

(b) Applicants for employment with the city, who are nonresidents at the time of appointment, shall establish residence inside the city limits within nine months after the date of appointment. In the discretion of the director of human resources, persons who, at the time the nine months expires, have entered into a contract to purchase a residence for their use and who are prepared to move in the city limits within a reasonable time not to exceed six months may be deemed to have met this requirement. An employee failing to comply with this subsection will forfeit his position of employment subject to the following exception:

(1) If the employee proves to the satisfaction of his department head or designee that he justifiably believed that he was residing within the city limits because a portion of the lot or the parcel of land on which his home is located is within the city limits, the employee will have 60 days to move back into the city limits and there shall be no discipline imposed.

(c) Any employee whose work is of such a nature that he spends 75 percent of his work time outside the city limits shall be exempted from this residence requirement.

(d) Residence is defined as the place where a person has his true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning.

(e) Any employee who has established a residence within the city limits and who subsequently moves his place of residence outside the city limits shall forfeit his position of employment subject to the following exceptions:

(1) The employee proves to the satisfaction of his department head or designee that he has moved back into the city limits within 60 days of the determination that the employee is no longer a resident of the City. In these circumstances, the disciplinary penalty may be a suspension in lieu of forfeiting his position of employment.

(2) If the employee proves to the satisfaction of his department head or designee that he justifiably believed that he was residing within the city limits because a portion of the lot or the parcel of land on which his home is located is within the city limits, the employee will have 60 days to move back into the city limits and there shall be no discipline imposed.

(f) If a department has recruited for a position twice and has been unable to fill that position, it may request a four year waiver from the residence requirement for that particular position. Waivers may be granted by the human resources director with the approval of the city manager and may be renewed by the human resources director with the approval of the city manager.

(g) The director of human resources is authorized to promulgate rules on city residence consistent with this ordinance.

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Approved as to form and legality:

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Assistant City Attorney