How to Start an Assisted Living or Home Plus Facility in Kansas: KDADS Adult Care Home Licensing

Informational only. This guide is not legal or tax advice. Fees, resident caps and rules change, so confirm every figure with the agency named before you spend money. Before you commit to a lease, a loan or a building plan, talk with a Kansas attorney and a CPA.

Learning how to start an assisted living business in Kansas means separating two tracks that look like one. Forming an LLC with the Kansas Secretary of State is a filing, not a license. The license to operate a residential care home comes from the Kansas Department of Aging and Disability Services (KDADS), and it has its own fee, resident limits, construction review and survey process. This guide walks through the steps in the order that avoids the most rework, from choosing your license category to the filings you will calendar after you open.

What KDADS Licenses

KDADS licenses adult care homes under K.S.A. 39-923. The categories are assisted living, residential health care and home plus. Your category sets your resident limits and your construction review, so choose it before you sign a lease or buy a building. If the model you have in mind falls between categories, ask KDADS to confirm the fit in writing.

Materials and Documents You Need

Gather these before you file anything. Most delays come from a missing item, not from a hard rule.

• A business name you have checked in the Secretary of State business search
• Articles of Organization, Domestic (Kansas) Limited Liability Company (Form DL), or Articles of Incorporation, Domestic (Kansas) Corporation (Form AI)
• The $85 filing fee, which applies to either entity type
• A resident agent with a Kansas street address, not a PO box
• A name reservation (Form NR, $35, held for 120 days) if you need time to finish paperwork
• A chosen site with a written zoning answer from the city or county
• A floor plan and a stated resident capacity, which sets your KDADS fee
• Written construction and fire guidance from KDADS and the State Fire Marshal
• A Kansas Department of Revenue business tax account for whichever taxes apply
• A business plan and budget, with planning help available from the Kansas Small Business Development Center
• Attorney and CPA time for entity choice, lease terms and tax treatment

Step-by-Step: Licensing an Adult Care Home in Kansas

Step 1: Pick your license category and resident count

Your resident count drives two things: the cap that applies to your category and the fee you pay to KDADS. Settle it first, because every later step depends on it.

Home plus has a resident cap. K.S.A. 39-923 as posted caps home plus at 12 residents who are not related to the operator. House Bill 2520 from 2026 raises that cap to 16. The Governor's signature appears on kslegislature.gov, and the change takes effect on publication in the statute book. Because the change is recent, confirm the cap in force with KDADS before you finalize your floor plan. If you cannot get a clear answer, design for the lower number so the plan still works if the increase is not yet in effect.

The licensing fee is set by regulation. Under K.A.R. 26-39-101(k), the fee is $100 plus $30 per resident of stated capacity, paid on each initial application and each annual report. A home licensed for 12 residents works out to $460 ($100 plus 12 times $30). K.S.A. 39-930 sets fees by regulation, so confirm the current figure with KDADS before you budget.

Step 2: Confirm the site with your city or county

Kansas has 105 counties and 624 cities. Every incorporated place is legally a city, so there are no towns or villages to look for. Your address falls inside one city or, if it is unincorporated, under the county. Local zoning decides whether a residential care use is allowed at a specific address, and that answer can move your timeline more than any state rule.

Call the planning or zoning office before you sign a lease or buy a building. Ask in writing whether the use is permitted at that address, what parking and occupancy rules apply, and whether any local permit or approval is needed. Keep the answer in your file, because your application will need the address.

Step 3: Form the entity that will hold the license

Most operators form an LLC, and the license should sit with the entity that will run the home. Kansas uses Articles of Organization for an LLC and Articles of Incorporation for a corporation. Both carry an $85 filing fee. Online filing through the Secretary of State's Business Services portal processes within minutes, and the certified copy can be printed right away. Paper filings are processed by mail from the Topeka office, so expect them to take longer.

Check the name first in the Secretary of State business search. An LLC name must include L.L.C., L.C., LLC, LC, LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY or LIMITED COMPANY. If a similar name is already registered, you need a Consent to Use of Similar Business Name (Form CN) filed with your formation document.

Name your resident agent. Kansas calls this role the resident agent. It can be an individual, a business registered in Kansas, or the entity itself. The registered office must be a Kansas street address where the agent can be regularly present. A PO box does not qualify. Update the resident agent or the registered office whenever the name or address changes.

Kansas has no state-level DBA filing. If your facility will use a name other than its legal name, the Secretary of State does not register that name. Check city and county requirements, and consider a Secretary of State trademark or service mark registration to protect the name.

Step 4: Understand the tax treatment and register with KDOR

Kansas has no LLC franchise tax. An LLC is a pass-through entity for Kansas income tax, so members report Kansas income on individual returns at 5.2% up to $23,000 of Kansas taxable income for single filers or $46,000 for married filing jointly, and 5.58% above those thresholds. An LLC taxed as a corporation pays the 3.5% normal tax plus a 3% surtax on Kansas taxable income over $50,000. Which treatment fits your ownership is a question for your CPA.

Register for business taxes with the Kansas Department of Revenue. Kansas issues no general statewide business license, so this registration is a tax account, not a permit to operate. KDOR business tax registration is free. If any of your activity involves sales subject to Kansas sales tax, you need a sales tax permit, and the state sales tax rate is 6.5%. Use the KDOR business pages and the Customer Service Center to register for whichever taxes apply to you.

Step 5: Get construction and fire guidance before you build or convert

Before you build, remodel or convert a house or commercial space, get written construction standards from KDADS Survey, Certification and Credentialing. Ask the State Fire Marshal for its review requirements as well. Converting an existing building is where budgets most often break, so get these answers before you buy the building or sign a construction contract.

Kansas has no statewide general contractor, electrician, plumber or HVAC license. Cities and counties license those trades, so check the local requirements for each contractor you hire, and budget for local permits. Ask every contractor for the city or county license number and proof of insurance.

Step 6: File the KDADS license application

Once the entity exists, the site is confirmed, and your category and capacity are set, file the adult care home license application with KDADS. Find the current forms through the adult care homes pages at kdads.ks.gov. Include the fee: $100 plus $30 for each resident of stated capacity. Ask KDADS to confirm the form version and fee on the day you submit, and keep a complete copy of everything you send.

Plan for KDADS survey activity. KDADS works through survey and certification, so the facility you describe in the application should match the facility you actually build and operate.

Step 7: Build your policies against the current regulations

Staffing, resident care, admission, records and emergency rules come from KDADS regulations. Get the current text from KDADS and write your policies against it, not against a summary, including a summary in this guide. Rules change, and a policy manual built from an outdated summary is expensive to rewrite after you open.

Step 8: Decide on Medicaid early, as a separate track

A KDADS license does not make you a Medicaid provider. Medicaid HCBS participation is a separate KanCare provider enrollment. If you expect residents to pay through Medicaid, start that enrollment as its own project with its own paperwork and timeline. Ask KDADS which KanCare steps apply to your category before you set your revenue forecast.

Step 9: Calendar the recurring filings

Set these dates in your calendar on the day you form the entity:

• LLC Information Report (Form ILC): $90, every two years by April 15. An LLC formed in an even year reports in each succeeding even year, and one formed in an odd year reports in each succeeding odd year. A three-month delinquency window follows the due date before forfeiture.
• Corporation Information Report (Form IFP): $90, every two years by April 15, in the odd or even year that matches the year the corporation was formed.
• KDADS annual report: the per-resident fee applies again on each annual report.
• Resident agent and registered office: update the Secretary of State record whenever either changes.

Expected Results

Following these steps can give you a clear licensing path, a written cost base and answers from each agency in writing. It does not guarantee a license, occupancy, revenue or any resident outcome. Those depend on your site, your staffing, your local market and how you run the home. Treat the steps as a way to reduce surprises, and plan for the cost of waiting if an answer arrives later than you expect.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Looking for a statewide business license. Kansas has none for general business. Your Secretary of State filing is a filing, and your KDADS license is the license that lets you operate the home.
• Signing a lease before zoning and fire guidance. A site that cannot support the planned capacity can be the costliest mistake to unwind.
• Designing for 16 residents without confirming the cap. Confirm the home plus cap in force with KDADS first.
• Using a PO box for the resident agent. The registered office must be a Kansas street address.
• Filing an annual report. The recurring Information Report is biennial, every two years by April 15.
• Assuming a contractor is licensed statewide. Check the city or county license for each trade.
• Confusing the two Kansas Cities. Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri are different cities in different states. Only Kansas City, Missouri has a city earnings tax, so that rule does not apply to a site in Kansas City, Kansas.
• Treating Medicaid as automatic. KanCare enrollment is separate from the KDADS license.
• Budgeting the KDADS fee on expected census. The fee depends on stated capacity, not on how many beds you expect to fill.

Tips That Save Time

• Get every answer in writing, from KDADS, the State Fire Marshal and the city or county planning office.
• Run the Secretary of State business search before you pick a name, and reserve it with Form NR if you need time.
• Use the Kansas Small Business Development Center at kansassbdc.net for planning help before you pay outside advisors.
• Review the SBA Wichita district page at sba.gov/district/wichita for small business resources that cover Kansas.
• Build a one-page cost sheet that lists the KDADS fee, the filing fees, the Information Report fees and each local permit, so you can see the total before you commit.

Official Resources and Final Disclaimer

This article is informational, not legal or tax advice. Confirm current fees, caps and rules with KDADS, the Secretary of State and the Kansas Department of Revenue before you act. For a facility with real financing, work with a Kansas attorney on the entity and lease, and a CPA on tax treatment. Verify each number on these official pages:

• Kansas Secretary of State business services: sos.ks.gov/business/business.html
• Secretary of State business entity search: sos.ks.gov business entity search
• Kansas Department of Revenue business pages: ksrevenue.gov/business.html
• KDADS adult care homes: kdads.ks.gov