Can a Kansas city let golf carts share a sidewalk-style path with pedestrians?

Plain-English summary

Valley Center's city attorney asked whether the city could pass an ordinance letting golf carts share two new ten-foot-wide pathways with pedestrians, connecting newer residential areas to the city's core. The concern was K.S.A. 8-1575, which bars driving "any vehicle" on a sidewalk.

The Attorney General confirmed that golf carts count as "vehicles" under Kansas law, based on an earlier 1997 opinion interpreting a nearly identical definition, so driving one on a sidewalk is illegal. Whether a specific pathway counts as a "sidewalk" is a factual question turning on K.S.A. 8-1465's definition: a sidewalk is the part of a street between the curb (or the edge of the roadway) and the adjacent property line that is meant for pedestrian use. A path running through the middle of a park, away from any street, would not qualify, and if a wide path is divided into a pedestrian lane and a separate non-pedestrian lane, only the pedestrian-designated portion counts as a sidewalk. On the city's authority to work around the ban, the opinion was direct: the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways, which includes K.S.A. 8-1575, applies uniformly statewide, and cities cannot pass an ordinary ordinance that conflicts with it. The opinion went further to close off the other likely workaround too, concluding that the Kansas Constitution's charter-ordinance home-rule provision only lets cities opt out of statutes that do not apply uniformly to all cities, and the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways is exactly the kind of uniformly applicable law charter ordinances cannot override.

What this means for you

City attorneys and public works officials designing shared-use paths: the opinion holds that any portion of a path meeting K.S.A. 8-1465's definition of "sidewalk," part of a street between the curb and adjacent property line, intended for pedestrian use, is off-limits to golf carts under K.S.A. 8-1575, regardless of how the city wants to designate the path locally.

City councils considering an ordinance or charter ordinance to permit golf carts on such paths: the opinion confirms neither an ordinary ordinance nor a charter ordinance can exempt a city from this statute, because the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways applies uniformly to all Kansas cities and is therefore beyond the reach of charter-ordinance opt-outs.

Park and pathway designers looking for a legal way to mix golf cart and pedestrian traffic: the opinion suggests that dividing a wide path into a marked pedestrian lane and a separate non-pedestrian lane could keep the non-pedestrian lane from qualifying as a "sidewalk," since only the portion "intended for use by pedestrians" meets that statutory definition.

Common questions

Are golf carts legally considered "vehicles" under Kansas traffic law?
Yes, according to the opinion, which relies on a 1997 Attorney General opinion holding that golf carts fall within the broad statutory definition of "vehicle" in K.S.A. 8-1485.

Does it matter how wide or new a path is when deciding if it counts as a sidewalk?
Not directly; the opinion says the test is whether the path sits between a street's curb (or roadway edge) and the adjacent property line and is intended for pedestrian use, not the path's width or age.

Can a city just pass a special charter ordinance to allow golf carts on its sidewalks?
No, according to the opinion. Charter ordinances under Article 12, Section 5 of the Kansas Constitution can only exempt a city from statutes that are not uniformly applicable to all cities, and the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways, which includes the sidewalk-driving ban, applies uniformly statewide.

Background and statutory framework

K.S.A. 8-1575, part of the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways, provides that no person shall drive any vehicle on a sidewalk except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway. K.S.A. 8-1485 defines "vehicle" broadly to cover any device by or in which a person or property may be transported on a highway, apart from limited exceptions like electric personal assistive mobility devices, a definition the opinion noted is materially the same as the one a 1997 opinion used to classify golf carts as vehicles. K.S.A. 8-1465 defines "sidewalk" as the portion of a street between the curb lines (or the lateral lines of a roadway) and the adjacent property lines, intended for pedestrian use.

K.S.A. 8-2001 makes the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways applicable and uniform statewide, expressly barring local governments from enacting conflicting ordinances unless expressly authorized. The opinion also addressed the constitutional home-rule alternative: Article 12, Section 5(c)(1) of the Kansas Constitution lets cities adopt charter ordinances to opt out of state enactments, but expressly excludes "enactments of statewide concern applicable uniformly to all cities" from that opt-out power. Because the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways applies uniformly to every Kansas city, the opinion concluded a charter ordinance cannot exempt Valley Center, or any city, from the sidewalk-driving ban.

Citations and references

Statutes and constitutional provisions:
- K.S.A. 8-1465; 8-1485; 8-1575
- K.S.A. 8-2001; 8-2204
- Kan. Const., Art. 12, § 5(c)(1)

Cases:
- State v. Jenkins, 295 Kan. 431, 284 P.3d 1037 (2012)
- City of Junction City v. Cadoret, 263 Kan. 164, 946 P.2d 1256 (1997)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ks.gov/reports-resources/ag-opinions
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.ks.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/22934/638772141528470000

Original opinion text

February 27, 2025

ATTORNEY GENERAL OPINION NO. 2025-6

Barry Arbuckle
Valley Center City Attorney
5565 N. Saint Clair Ave.
Wichita, KS 67204

Re: Automobiles and Other Vehicles—Uniform Act Regulating Traffic;
Rules of the Road—Miscellaneous Traffic Rules—Driving Upon
Sidewalk

Synopsis: K.S.A. 8-1575 prohibits a person from driving a golf cart on a sidewalk.
Whether a particular pathway constitutes a "sidewalk" depends on the
facts. A city may not exempt itself from this statute by enacting a
charter ordinance. Cited herein: K.S.A. 8-2001; 8-1465; 8-1575; Kan.
Const., Art. 12, § 5.

                          *           *            *

Dear Mr. Arbuckle:

As City Attorney for Valley Center, you ask whether K.S.A. 8-1575 prevents a city
from enacting an ordinance allowing people to drive golf carts on certain pathways.
Specifically, you note that Valley Center has constructed two ten-foot-wide
pathways to connect newly developing residential areas with the existing city core,
and there is interest in allowing the mixed use of these pathways by both golf carts
and pedestrian traffic.

K.S.A. 8-1575 provides that "[n]o person shall drive any vehicle upon a sidewalk or
sidewalk area except upon a permanent or duly authorized temporary driveway." A
"vehicle" is defined as "every device in, upon or by which any person or property is
or may be transported or drawn upon a highway, except electric personal assistive
mobility devices or devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon
stationary rails or tracks."1 Golf carts fall under this definition of "vehicle," as
Attorney General Opinion 97-78 concluded.2 Thus, it is illegal to drive a golf cart on
a sidewalk.

K.S.A. 8-1465 defines "sidewalk" as "that portion of a street between the curb lines,
or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines intended for use by
pedestrians." Whether a particular pathway meets this definition will depend on
the facts. For instance, a pathway that runs through the middle of a park, rather
than between the edge of the road and the adjacent property line, is not a sidewalk.
A sidewalk is also limited to that area "intended for use by pedestrians." So if a
wide pathway is divided into lanes, one for pedestrian traffic and one for non-
pedestrian traffic, only that portion of the pathway designated for pedestrian traffic
would constitute a sidewalk.

Notwithstanding the prohibition in K.S.A. 8-1575, you suggest that cities might rely
on their constitutional home rule authority to authorize the driving of golf carts on
sidewalks. We disagree. K.S.A. 8-2001 provides that the Uniform Act Regulating
Traffic on Highways, of which K.S.A. 8-1575 is a part,3 "shall be applicable and
uniform throughout this state and in all cities and other political subdivisions
therein, and no local authority shall enact or enforce any ordinance in conflict with
the provisions of this act unless expressly authorized."4 Even apart from this
statute, it is well settled that a city may not enact an ordinary (i.e., non-charter)
ordinance that conflicts with state law.5 A conflict exists when an ordinance
"permits what the statute forbids or prohibits what the statute authorizes."6
Permitting golf carts to be driven on a sidewalk, which is forbidden by K.S.A. 8-
1575, would be a clear conflict.

Nor could a city enact a charter ordinance to exempt itself from the provisions of
K.S.A. 8-1575. Article 12, Section 5(c)(1) of the Kansas Constitution allows cities to
enact charter ordinances providing that certain statutes shall not apply to them,
but cities may not use charter ordinances to exempt themselves from enactments

1 K.S.A. 8-1485.
2 That opinion actually addressed the definition of "vehicle" in K.S.A. 8-126, but the definition in

K.S.A. 8-126 is materially the same as in K.S.A. 8-1485.
3 See K.S.A. 8-2204.
4 For this reason, Attorney General Opinion 85-82 concluded that cities may not enact an ordinance

that conflicts with K.S.A. 8-1572.
5 See State v. Jenkins, 295 Kan. 431, 437, 284 P.3d 1037 (2012).
6 Id. at 439 (quoting City of Junction City v. Cadoret, 263 Kan. 164, 170, 946 P.2d 1256 (1997)).

that apply uniformly to all cities.7 As Attorney General Opinion 97-78 explained,
the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways applies uniformly to all cities, so a
city may not charter out of any of its provisions.

                                           Sincerely,

                                           /s/ Kris W. Kobach

                                           Kris W. Kobach
                                           Attorney General

                                           /s/ Dwight R. Carswell

                                           Dwight R. Carswell
                                           Deputy Solicitor General

7See Kan. Const., Art. 12, § 5(c)(1) ("Any city may by charter ordinance elect in the manner
prescribed in this section that the whole or any part of any enactment of the legislature applying to
such city, other than enactments of statewide concern applicable uniformly to all cities, other
enactments applicable uniformly to all cities, and enactments prescribing limits of indebtedness,
shall not apply to such city.").