Shawnee County, KS Mobility & Curb Rules: E-Bike Classes (2026)

County Code Sec. 23-2, adopted by Resolution No. 2022-9 on January 24, 2022, defines an "electric-assisted bicycle" or "e-bike" as a two- or three-wheeled bicycle with a saddle, operative pedals for human propulsion, and an electric motor capped at 1,000 watts that cannot propel the bike faster than 20 miles per hour on level ground and cannot boost speed past 20 mph even when the rider is pedaling. The ordinance then splits e-bikes into three classes: Class 1 bikes assist only while pedaling and cut off at 20 mph; Class 2 bikes have a throttle that can propel the bike on its own but also cuts off at 20 mph; and Class 3 bikes assist only while pedaling but cut off at the higher threshold of 28 mph.

Subsection (c) permits Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes on all county parks and recreation trails, while subsection (d) flatly prohibits Class 3 e-bikes, and any other type of electric-assisted bicycle that does not fit the Class 1 or 2 definitions, from those same trails. The distinction turns entirely on top assisted speed and throttle behavior, not on motor wattage, since all three classes share the 1,000-watt cap.