Kansas
From the 50 State Visitor Guide :
K.S.A. 2019 §§22-4901 through 22-4913.
AWA Compliant
Registration Triggers and Deadlines:
3 business days for initial reg., visitors and updates. §22-4905. “Reside” defined as 3 “consecutive days or parts of days” in one location, or 10 days in a period of 30 consecutive days. §22-4902(j). Transients must register every 30 days. §22-4905.
Residency/Presence and Other Restrictions:
None, and local residence restrictions are expressly prohibited by K.S.A. §22-4913.
Duration & updates:
15 years to life. Updates are required quarterly in specific months per. K.S.A. §22-4905.
Most recent visit: June 2023
Kansas and Nebraska’s laws both trigger their registration requirements on the third business day in-state, which is a very short time period, and as in many states partial days also count. In Kansas, however, the law also specifies not more than 10 days in a period of 30 consecutive days.
There is some good news for registered travelers in both of these states – neither has statewide presence or residency restrictions, and both have statutes preempting local residency restrictions (except in certain narrow circumstances in Nebraska only). That means you can visit these states without fear of tripping over any state or local laws.
In June 2023 I passed through Kansas on the return leg of my trip to Houston, TX where I attended the annual NARSOL conference. Entering the state from the south on I-35 late in the afternoon my first priority was to find an off-brand motel to stay overnight, but in doing so I knew that partial day would be counted against me in Kansas, leaving me with just the following day to see whatever I could and get out of Dodge (so to speak) without triggering an obligation to register.
The next morning I noticed a place called “Mennonite Heritage Museum” in the little town of Goessel, KS. The museum itself wasn’t much – but! – surrounding the museum is the best collection of relocated local historic buildings I think I’ve ever seen. Two barns full of antique farm equipment, two houses filled with period late 19th and early 20th Century furnishings, a bank building in much better shape than the one I’d seen at the Chisholm Trail Museum the day before, and two schools(!). All meticulously maintained. I now consider this to be a Must See stop for any Kansas traveler, registered or not.
From Goessel I moseyed across rural Kansas until I came to Mushroom Rock State Park, where I ate lunch at a picnic table among the strange rock formations. Then it was an afternoon of roadside attractions – World’s Largest Czech Egg in Wilson, Garden of Eden house in Lucas, and World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City (very close to the Geographic Center of the Coterminous U.S. in Lebanon).
Before heading northeast into Nebraska on U.S. 81 I made one last stop at the Pawnee Indian Museum. I arrived just as the one employee there was locking up at 5 pm but he very kindly re-opened for a few minutes so I could walk through the museum, then trusted me to walk the outdoor educational trail by myself while he went home. Not the best Native American museum I’ve seen.
In 2022 I embarked on a one week adventure to see two states – Nebraska and Kansas – which I had driven through before but never slowed down enough to really see any of. When I did slow down I was pleasantly surprised.
To get around the three day limit (with 3rd day trigger) discussed above, I planned my trip to include Memorial Day weekend, which meant I’d have three non-business days to split between the two states to lengthen my stay in each. I entered Kansas near its remote northwest corner from Nebraska early on the Memorial Day holiday, so that day didn’t count. Tuesday and Wednesday would count, and Thursday would trigger my obligation to register so I needed to be gone by then.
The first point of interest I came to was the Buffalo Bill Cultural Center in the town of Oakley, but unfortunately it was closed on Memorial Day. Continuing south I came to Monument Rocks, an interesting outcrop out in the middle of nowhere.
One of Kansas’ more famous Wild West towns is Dodge City, which has done everything possible to play up its notoriety for tourists. I visited the “historic downtown” and the Boot Hill Museum, which includes a reconstructed Old West Main Street, church and blacksmith shop and a small part of what they claim is the original Boot Hill Cemetery. Turning north on Us 283 I eventually found a campground with bathroom and shower facilities at Cedar Bluff State Park.
Massive barbed wire exhibit at the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum
On Day 2 (business day #1) my first stop was in the small town of LaCrosse, where they have four little museums all next door to each other – most notably the Kansas Barbed Wire Museum(!). Strange but interesting. Also a Post Rock Museum, where I picked up a brochure that offered a guided tour of Kansas’s “post rock country.” This tour took me northeast through tiny towns until I arrived at Rock City, a geologic curiosity just outside the town of Minneapolis (KS). Worth the stop!
From there I traveled to Abilene, where a brochure promised a train ride on the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad … but unfortunately this train only runs on weekends and it was a Tuesday. Right across the rail line, however, sits the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home. It was late and closed for the day, the boyhood home was fenced off for renovations, and this wasn’t the type of site I’d normally be interested in, but I walked around the grounds and took some photos.
Day 3 (business day#2) began with a stop at Alcove Spring Park, just outside the town of Blue Rapids. The spring was an Oregon Trail watering hole. Then on to Marysville and the Pony Express Barn & Museum, home of “the only remaining Pony Express station building.” Then on to Topeka, and north again on my way to Omaha. I was out of the state as planned by about 2:00 pm.
