photo by: Bremen Keasey

Lawrence's City Hall, located at 6 E. Sixth St., shown during June 2025.

City commissioners will take a first step toward replacing outgoing City Manager Craig Owens when they receive three proposals from executive search firms at their meeting next week.

Owens announced last month that he would be leaving his role in May 2026, and city staff has received proposals from three search firms to look for his replacement: Strategic Government Resources, MGT and CPS HR Consulting.

The firms’ fees are included in their proposals: Strategic Government Resources would charge a fee not to exceed $28,419, MGT’s fee would be around $26,000, and CPS HR Consulting would charge a $27,000 flat fee.

Earlier this week, Mayor Brad Finkeldei told the Journal-World that it was possible the commission could choose a firm as early as Tuesday, and that the search would take three to four months after a firm was hired.

“They all, I believe, have 12- to 14-week timelines, generally,” he said. “So if we decide on Tuesday night to hire one of them, or we decide on a process about hiring one of them, I think it’s generally three to four months after we hire a search firm that we could reasonably expect a city manager.”

The City Commission meets at 5 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.