Kansas boating laws · checked Oct 2026

Kansas boating laws: life jackets, boater education and jet skis

What Kansas law requires on the water, pulled from official sources and linked line by line: life jackets, boater education, jet skis, paddle craft and registration.

Kids must wear a life jacket: Under 13
Boater education card: Required (see who)
Jet ski / PWC minimum age: No fixed PWC minimum: under 12 only with direct, audible on-board supervision by someone over 17 …
Emergency: 911

Emergency on the water in Kansas

911

Life in danger, on any water: call 911 from a cell phone.

On inland lakes and rivers, 911 reaches the people who respond there: county sheriff marine units, state conservation officers and local fire and rescue.

Emergency and non-emergency contacts in Kansas

Call 911 for emergencies on all waters.

How to call the Coast Guard: VHF 16 or 911 · Coast Guard phone numbers by region

Kansas life jacket laws (and kids)

Children

Anyone 12 years of age or younger on board or being towed must wear a USCG-approved life jacket, unless below decks or in an enclosed cabin (a life belt or ring does not count) (K.S.A. 32-1129).

Source: ksrevisor.gov

The federal baseline

Federal default: children under 13 must wear a USCG-approved life jacket on a recreational vessel that is underway, unless they’re below decks or in an enclosed cabin. Where a state has its own child-wear rule, the state rule applies on its waters (33 CFR 175.15(c), 175.25). Coast Guard required safety equipment →

Boater education card (the “Kansas boating license”)

Most states don’t issue a boating license. What they require is a boater education card: proof you passed an approved boating safety course.

Who needs it

Anyone born on or after January 1, 1989, operating a motorboat (including a PWC) or a sailboat. This does not apply once you turn 21, or if you are under the direct, audible supervision on board of someone over 17 who is certified or exempt. Under 12 may operate a motorboat only with direct, audible supervision by a parent or someone over 17.

The card

Certificate of completion of an approved boater safety education course (Kansas Boater Education Certificate)

Source: ksrevisor.gov

Kansas jet ski (PWC) laws

Minimum age

No fixed PWC minimum: under 12 only with direct, audible on-board supervision by someone over 17 (K.S.A. 32-1125); born on or after Jan 1, 1989 and under 21 need a boater education certificate unless supervised

Rules on the water

Everyone on board must wear a USCG-approved life jacket; lanyard must be attached to the operator; no riding between sunset and sunrise; no-wake (5 mph or less) within 200 ft of docks, ramps, swimmers, bridges, moored or anchored vessels, pump-outs, non-motorized craft and marinas; must face forward; no weaving or unsafe wake-jumping (K.A.R. 115-30-10).

Source: law.cornell.edu

Boat registration in Kansas

Every undocumented vessel propelled mechanically or by sail must be numbered (registered with KDWP). Non-motorized canoes, kayaks and paddleboards are not covered by the numbering statute.

Popular boating waters in Kansas

Milford Lake
Tuttle Creek Lake
Perry Lake
Clinton Lake
El Dorado Lake
Cheney Reservoir
Wilson Lake
Kanopolis Lake

Some of the waters Kansas boaters know best. This is our list, not an official one, and it isn’t complete.

WHAT VESSELSOS DOES HERE

VesselSOS on Kansas waters

Life in danger? One tap dials 911. The screen shows your GPS position and a word-for-word script: say “Boat emergency, I’m on the water” and the name of the lake, river or bay you’re on.
A live link for family ashore (Plus, free during the beta): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their end. You send it by text yourself.
Not an emergency? The tow screen has Call buttons for the TowBoatUS and Sea Tow 24-hour dispatch lines, or your own member number.

What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t call the Coast Guard for you and isn’t connected to 911 or any rescue system. Nobody is alerted automatically if you’re late. The return-time check only asks “Are you OK?” on your own phone. It doesn’t replace a VHF radio, a PLB or EPIRB, or the life jackets the law requires.

iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android. US support (911 routing, American English) is in beta version 1.4 and later.

Quick answers

What is the Kansas life jacket law for kids?

Anyone 12 years of age or younger on board or being towed must wear a USCG-approved life jacket, unless below decks or in an enclosed cabin (a life belt or ring does not count) (K.S.A. 32-1129).

Do you need a boating license in Kansas?

How old do you have to be to drive a jet ski in Kansas?

Do you have to register a boat in Kansas?