Editing Hays, Kansas (section)

==Government==
[[File:Hays Kansas City Hall Fire Station 5-7-2014.jpg|thumb|right|Hays City Hall]]
Hays is a [[Kansas#Important cities and towns|city of the second class]] with a [[council-manager government|commission-manager]] form of government, which it adopted in 1919. The [[city commission]] consists of five commissioners, with [[plurality-at-large voting|at-large]] elections occurring every two years. The commission meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month.<ref name="gov1">{{cite web|title=Hays |work=Directory of Kansas Public Officials |publisher=The League of Kansas Municipalities |url=http://www.lkm.org/directory/cities.php?ID=212 |access-date=May 11, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505132945/http://www.lkm.org/directory/cities.php?ID=212 |archive-date=May 5, 2011 }}</ref><ref name=Commission>{{cite web | title = City Commission | publisher = City of Hays, Kansas | url = http://www.haysusa.com/html/city_commission.html | access-date = February 3, 2010 | archive-date = February 18, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100218111040/http://www.haysusa.com/html/city_commission.html | url-status = dead }}</ref> One commissioner serves as [[Mayor#United States|mayor]], presiding over commission meetings and representing the city at ceremonial events. The [[city manager]] is hired by the commission and is responsible for advising the commission, enforcing its policies, administering city employees, and preparing a proposed city budget.<ref name=Commission/>

As the [[county seat]], Hays is the administrative center of Ellis County. The [[county courthouse]] is located downtown, and all departments of the county government base their operations in the city.<ref>{{cite web | title = Staff Directory | publisher = Ellis County, Kansas | url = http://www.ellisco.net/directory.aspx | access-date = February 23, 2012}}</ref>

Hays lies within [[Kansas's 1st congressional district|Kansas's 1st U.S. Congressional District]]. For the purposes of representation in the [[Kansas Legislature]], the city is located in the 40th district of the [[Kansas Senate]] and the 111th district of the [[Kansas House of Representatives]].<ref name="gov1"/>