photo by: City of Lawrence

Craig Owens

Story updated at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 7:

Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens will be leaving his job with the city in May of 2026, the city announced in a news release Friday morning.

Owens was hired in 2019 after the previous city manager, Tom Markus, retired. The news release did not provide any details about the hiring process for Owens’ replacement, but it said that Owens would remain “fully engaged in supporting the City Commission and City staff through a thoughtful and comprehensive leadership transition.”

During his more than six years with the city, Owens has worked alongside four City Commissions and will be working with another one — with new commissioners Mike Courtney and Kristine Polian — during his transition.

“I appreciate Craig’s dedication and perseverance in navigating the many challenges our town has faced during his tenure,” Mayor Mike Dever said in the release on Friday. “I look forward to the upcoming search for new leadership and the opportunity to find the right fit to meet our community’s current needs and goals.”

Early on in Owens’ time with the city, he said that infrastructure would be one of his top priorities, and that improving it and properly maintaining it would lead to lower “cost of ownership.” The city has undertaken a number of major infrastructure projects under his watch, including the recent road reconstructions on Sixth Street and Iowa Street and the still-under-construction $130 million Field Operations Campus for public works, and it’s preparing for a stormwater and street reconstruction project that will close part of Ninth Street.

The city also updated its land development code during Owens’ tenure, and it added a new city department for homeless programs. And in economic development, another area that he said was a priority early on, some big projects have occurred, including U.S. Engineering in VenturePark and the recently approved University of Kansas Gateway project.

One of Owens’ biggest responsibilities as a city manager has been crafting the city’s budget each year, a process that this year began in January. He’s supported raises for employees before to make the city’s pay more competitive, but he’s also produced budgets that led to pushback from the public, especially when it comes to proposed mill levy increases and cuts to things like Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical staffing and Parks and Recreation.

Many of the city’s budget problems in recent years have stemmed from years of actual sales tax collections that fell short of what the city had projected. Owens’ proposed budget for 2026 had to close a $6.5 million budget hole, and he’s said that his budget recommendations have been intended to put the city on a more stable financial footing.

Owens and his family plan to remain in Lawrence, the release said, and he plans to focus on doing “strategic advising and legacy-building work” once he’s no longer managing the City of Lawrence’s operations.

In the release, Owens said he believed the city was in a good position for a new leader to take over.

“A new strategic planning process will begin in the next few months, a new City Commission will be seated next month, and through difficulty, a sustainable balanced budget is in place,” Owens said. “This is a good situation for a new City Manager who can bring the right skills, talents and passions to this important work–work that never has an end, is always challenging and vitally important.”

This is a developing story and will be updated.