Editing Wichita, Kansas (section)

==Government==
{{See also|List of mayors of Wichita, Kansas}}
[[File:Wichita City Hall.jpg|thumb|Wichita City Hall (2018)]]

Under state statute, Wichita is a [[Kansas#Important cities and towns|city of the first class]].<ref name="gov1">{{cite web | title = Wichita | work = Directory of Kansas Public Officials | publisher = The League of Kansas Municipalities | url = http://www.lkm.org/directory/cities.php?ID=68 | access-date = March 14, 2012 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120405092624/http://www.lkm.org/directory/cities.php?ID=68 | archive-date = April 5, 2012 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> Since 1917, it has had a [[Council–manager government|council–manager]] form of government.<ref name=Manager>{{cite web | title = City Manager | publisher = City of Wichita | url = http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/CityManager/ | access-date = April 30, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110706025136/http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/CityManager/ | archive-date = July 6, 2011 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The [[city council]] consists of seven members popularly elected every four years with staggered terms in office. For representative purposes, the city is divided into six districts with one council member elected from each. The [[mayor]] is the seventh council member, elected [[Plurality-at-large voting|at large]]. The council sets policy for the city, enacts laws and ordinances, levies taxes, approves the city budget, and appoints members to citizen commission and advisory boards.<ref>{{cite web | title = City Council | publisher = City of Wichita | url = http://www.wichita.gov/Government/CityCouncil/ | access-date = April 30, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110612135756/http://www.wichita.gov/Government/CityCouncil/ | archive-date = June 12, 2011 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> It meets each Tuesday.<ref name="gov1"/> The [[city manager]] is the city's chief executive, responsible for administering city operations and personnel, submitting the annual city budget, advising the city council, preparing the council's agenda, and oversight of non-departmental activities.<ref name=Manager/> As of 2024, the city council consists of  Mayor [[Lily Wu]], Brandon Johnson (District 1), Becky Tuttle (District 2), Mike Hoheisel (District 3), Dalton Glasscock (District 4), J.V. Johnston (District 5), and Maggie Ballard (District 6).<ref>{{cite web | title = City Council | publisher = City of Wichita | url = https://www.wichita.gov/Council | access-date = January 9, 2024}}</ref>  The city manager is Robert Layton.<ref>{{cite web | title = City Manager's Office | publisher = City of Wichita | url = https://www.wichita.gov/CMO/Pages/default.aspx | access-date = March 15, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Wichita Police Department (Kansas)|Wichita Police Department]], established in 1871, is the city's law enforcement agency.<ref>{{cite web | title = History of the Wichita Police Department | publisher = City of Wichita | url = http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Police/History/WPDhistory.htm | access-date = April 30, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110727092553/http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Police/History/WPDhistory.htm | archive-date = July 27, 2011 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> With over 800 employees, including more than 600 commissioned officers, it is the largest law enforcement agency in Kansas.<ref>{{cite web | title = -Departmental Information | publisher = City of Wichita | url = http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Police/Support+Services/RecordsBureau/Records+Information/info.htm | access-date = April 30, 2011}}</ref> The Wichita Fire Department, organized in 1886, operates 22 stations throughout the city. Organized into four battalions, it employs over 400 full-time firefighters.<ref>{{cite web | title = About Us [Wichita Fire Department] | publisher = City of Wichita, Kansas | url = http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/Fire/Pages/AboutUs.aspx | date = January 6, 2014 | access-date = December 29, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234430/http://www.wichita.gov/Government/Departments/Fire/Pages/AboutUs.aspx | archive-date = December 30, 2013 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref>

As the [[county seat]], Wichita is the administrative center of Sedgwick County. The [[county courthouse]] is downtown, and most departments of the county government base their operations in the city.<ref>{{cite web | title = Sedgwick County, Kansas Government | publisher = Sedgwick County, Kansas | url = http://www.sedgwickcounty.org/government.asp | access-date = July 30, 2012}}</ref>

Many departments and agencies of the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. Government]] have facilities in Wichita. The [[United States Post Office and Federal Building (Wichita, Kansas)|Wichita U.S. Courthouse]], also downtown, is one of the three courthouses of the [[U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas]].<ref>{{cite web | title = Courthouse Information | publisher = [[U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas]] | url = http://www.ksd.uscourts.gov/locations/ | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120109174659/http://www.ksd.uscourts.gov/locations/ | url-status = dead | archive-date = January 9, 2012 | access-date = August 25, 2013 }}</ref> The [[U.S. Air Force]] operates [[McConnell Air Force Base]] immediately southeast of the city.<ref>{{cite web | title = FAQ Topic - Newcomers | publisher = [[U.S. Air Force]] | url = http://www.mcconnell.af.mil/questions/topic.asp?id=599 | access-date = August 25, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131005151857/http://www.mcconnell.af.mil/questions/topic.asp?id=599 | archive-date = October 5, 2013 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The campus of the Robert J. Dole [[U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs|Department of Veterans Affairs]] Medical and Regional Office Center is on U.S. 54 in east Wichita.<ref name=VA>{{cite web | title = Locations - Robert J. Dole Department of Veterans Affairs Medical and Regional Office Center | publisher = [[U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs]] | url = http://www.va.gov/directory/guide/facility.asp?id=148 | access-date = August 25, 2013}}</ref> Other agencies, including the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]],<ref>{{cite web | title = Kansas City Division - Territory/Jurisdiction | publisher = [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] | url = https://www.fbi.gov/kansascity/contact-us/territory-jurisdiction | access-date = August 25, 2013}}</ref> [[Food and Drug Administration]],<ref>{{cite web | title = FDA Southwest Regional/District Offices | publisher = [[U.S. Department of Health & Human Services]] | url = https://www.hhs.gov/about/regions/fdaswr.html | access-date = August 25, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150201085912/http://www.hhs.gov/about/regions/fdaswr.html | archive-date = February 1, 2015 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> and [[Internal Revenue Service]]<ref>{{cite web | title = Contact My Local Office in Kansas | publisher = [[Internal Revenue Service]] | url = https://www.irs.gov/uac/Contact-My-Local-Office-in-Kansas | access-date = August 25, 2013}}</ref> among others, have offices around the city.

Wichita lies within [[Kansas's 4th congressional district|Kansas's 4th U.S. Congressional District]], represented since 2017 by Republican [[Ron Estes]]. For the purposes of representation in the [[Kansas Legislature]], the city is in the 16th and 25th through 32nd districts of the [[Kansas Senate]] and the 81st, 83rd through 101st, 103rd, and 105th districts of the [[Kansas House of Representatives]].<ref name="gov1"/>