By NICK BUDD
Hays Post

Hays Assistant Police Chief Brian Dawson presented changes to the Uniform Public Offense Code and Standard Traffic Ordinances to the Hays City Commission at Thursday’s work session. The codes are published by the Kansas League of Municipalities, and the majority of the changes to the UPOC occurred during the 2011 Kansas legislative session, which included the first recodification of the state criminal code since 1969.

“The goal was to reorganize the statutes and to place them in a more user-friendly order and to revise some of the language to add clarity,” Dawson said. “There were also some statutes that were combined in order to reduce the number.”

The changes also reflect some of the new gun ordinances recently passed by the state Legislature. Revisions include the deletion of sections that regulate the carrying and possession of a firearm due to the fact that cities no longer have control over this issue.

City Manager Toby Dougherty said the revisions were simply an annual “housekeeping item.”

The changes will be considered at the next regular session of the Hays City Commission.