Springfield mayor wants residency requirement for city staff

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - The mayor of Springfield wants to pass an ordinance to require new municipal employees to live in the city.

The State Journal-Register reports (http://bit.ly/1LBlMhQ ) Mayor Jim Langfelder anticipates asking aldermen to vote on the ordinance this month or next.

Springfield had a residency requirement from 1976 until 2000. Currently rank-and-file employees may live outside Springfield but elected officials and department directors may not.

Langfelder wants to reinstate the requirement for new hires. They would be required to move inside city limits within six months of their hire date.

Langfelder says employees already living in Springfield would need to stay within the city.

According to data from the city's human resources department, about 30 percent of the city's 1,430 workers don't have Springfield addresses.

Aldemen are divided on the issue.

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com