The city code of Lawrence makes it a crime to escape from the city jail. Sounds sensible, except for one fact: Lawrence doesn’t have a city jail. Local prisoners are housed in the county jail right outside of town.

Assistant City Manager Dave Corliss said that was just one small example of how a growing number of city ordinances are becoming outdated or irrelevant.

“I think our city code needs some deep cleaning, is the term I would use,” Corliss told the Lawrence City Commission during budget hearings earlier this week. “There are some portions of the code that are suspect legally, constitutionally. I have just not had a chance to get to it.”

Corliss, who oversees City Hall’s legal services department, said an additional lawyer on staff would be needed to do such deep cleaning. But he didn’t ask commissioners for money to hire the extra staffer — and commissioners don’t appear ready to volunteer.

“I don’t see how we have the staff time to make this a priority right now,” Commissioner Boog Highberger, himself a lawyer, said Thursday.

The city code book covers 22 chapters and 820 pages, laying down city rules on everything from zoning to alcohol sales to the preservation of historic buildings. Two chapters, concerning the zoning and subdivision regulations, are already under review by city planners.

Corliss for the most part declined to be specific about what parts of city code need to be updated, giving a minor example regarding fencing requirements.

“I don’t want to give you details that would encourage somebody who would use it for nefarious purposes,” he said.

He told commissioners, however, that some outdated sections included provisions for animal control and alcohol use.

Afterward, he said “there are probably provisions in our public offense code that could be reviewed for their appropriateness.”

Corliss told commissioners that outdated or suspect codes were no longer enforced.

“I don’t think it’s genuine to the public to have laws on the books that we’re not enforcing,” he said. “The public should be able to rely on the laws on the books as something we’re going to enforce, and enforce as written.”

Corliss said city legal staffers spent their time on other projects, including commission initiatives to create new design and traffic guidelines. Highberger said that was where the focus should be.

“It’s a big document. I’m sure there are things that need cleaning up,” Highberger said. “Ideally, we’d have somebody for the task … but the day-to-day stuff takes precedence.”