Vagueness Challenges Don’t Work When the Rule is Clear Enough

In Landlords of Lawrence v. City of Lawrence, No. 127,980 (Kan. Ct. App. May 16, 2025), landlords argued that a city ordinance was unconstitutionally vague. Kansas courts apply a two-part test:

1. Does the law give fair notice?
2. Does it guard against arbitrary enforcement?

The Court of Appeals said yes to both. The ordinance simply required landlords who choose to participate in housing subsidy programs to follow those programs’ rules.

As the U.S. Supreme Court has said, “we can never expect mathematical certainty from our language.” But this ordinance, the court held, was clear enough to pass constitutional muster.