No, you cannot own a raccoon in Kansas. State law treats every raccoon as public wildlife, and possessing one without authorization from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks is illegal under K.S.A. 32-1002.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 32-1002 – Unlawful Taking or Dealing in Wildlife Fines for picking up or keeping wildlife can run up to $1,000.2Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild The only legal way to hold a raccoon in the state is under a wildlife rehabilitation permit, which exists to return injured or orphaned animals to the wild, not to let you keep one as a pet.
Why the Ban Exists
K.S.A. 32-1002 makes it unlawful to possess any wildlife in Kansas, dead or alive, without authorization from the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) or its governing regulations. The statute also bars buying, selling, shipping, or exchanging wildlife without a permit.1Kansas Office of Revisor of Statutes. Kansas Code 32-1002 – Unlawful Taking or Dealing in Wildlife Raccoons are native Kansas wildlife and fall directly under this prohibition. There is no exotic pet exception, no breeder license, and no personal ownership permit that would let you keep one at home.
A second agency adds a public health lock. Kansas Department of Health and Environment regulation 28-1-14 prohibits the sale or vaccination of raccoons, skunks, foxes, coyotes, and other wild animals known to carry rabies.3Kansas Department of Health and Environment. Rabies Even in a hypothetical world where you got around the wildlife possession ban, you could not legally vaccinate a raccoon against rabies in Kansas. No approved parenteral rabies vaccine exists for raccoons in the first place, and if a raccoon in your care bit someone, health authorities have no observation-and-release protocol comparable to the one used for dogs. Euthanasia and testing is the standard response.
What Happens If You Keep One Anyway
Illegal possession is enforced by both KDWP and KDHE, with fines that can reach $1,000, and possible jail time under the general wildlife penalty statute referenced by K.S.A. 32-1002.2Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild Federal permits may also apply for certain species, and federal violations carry steeper consequences.
The animal itself can be seized. If a bite or a suspected rabies exposure occurs, the raccoon is likely to be euthanized and tested, because there is no way to observe it under a recognized quarantine protocol. Raccoon roundworm (Baylisascaris procyonis) is the other reason authorities take these cases seriously. Infected raccoons shed millions of eggs in their feces, and human infections, while rare, can migrate to the eyes and cause blindness or reach the brain and cause severe neurological damage including coma. The CDC has found no drug that is completely effective against the parasite in humans and advises against keeping raccoons as pets.4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About Raccoon Roundworm
The Rehabilitation Permit Is Not a Pet License
The only lawful way to have a raccoon in your possession in Kansas is a wildlife rehabilitation permit issued under Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit Its purpose is to let trained people care for sick, injured, or orphaned wildlife and return them to the wild.
The regulation is written to defeat the pet scenario. Rehabilitators must minimize human contact and prevent the animal from imprinting or bonding with people. Wildlife has to be housed separately from domestic animals except when a domestic animal is being used as a surrogate parent. Release, not companionship, is the goal.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit
What It Takes to Qualify as a Rehabilitator
Kansas sets a high bar. Applicants must be at least 18 and have 100 hours of hands-on wildlife handling experience logged over at least one calendar year. Up to 20 of those hours can come from a training course through the International Wildlife Rehabilitation Council or the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit
You also need three letters of recommendation from people who have known you for at least two years, drawn from wildlife professionals, KDWP conservation officers, Kansas-licensed veterinarians, or existing permitted rehabilitators. On top of that, one of the following:
- An IWRC training certificate completed within the prior three years.
- An NWRA training certificate within the prior three years.
- A passing score of at least 80 percent on a KDWP-administered exam. A failed attempt requires a 30-day wait, and you may only try twice per calendar year.
Applicants must name at least one assisting veterinarian on the application, and all rehabilitation work must be done in consultation with that veterinarian or with veterinary staff at the Kansas State University veterinary hospital. No permit is issued until a KDWP official inspects and approves the facility, and permits expire December 31 each year. Renewal requires eight hours of approved continuing education every three years.5Legal Information Institute. Kansas Administrative Regulation 115-18-1 – Wildlife Rehabilitation Permit
If You Find a Baby or Injured Raccoon
Leave it alone first. KDWP advises that young raccoons old enough to walk can climb back to their den on their own, and if they are too young, the mother will typically return and carry them back. Picking up a young wild animal is itself a violation, with fines up to $1,000.2Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Keep Wildlife Wild
If the animal is genuinely injured, has been orphaned for an extended period, or is causing damage inside a home or outbuilding, contact a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Damage Control Permit Holder through KDWP, or reach out to a permitted wildlife rehabilitator. Both are legally authorized to handle the animal; you are not.
Buying a Raccoon From Out of State
Ordering a raccoon from a breeder in a state where ownership is legal does not solve the problem. The federal Lacey Act makes it an offense to transport, sell, or acquire wildlife taken or possessed in violation of state law.6U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Lacey Act The moment the raccoon crosses into Kansas, where possession is prohibited, the federal statute engages alongside the state one. Raccoons are not currently listed as an injurious species under the Lacey Act, so interstate transport itself is not blanket-banned, but importing into a prohibition state is where the federal exposure starts.
The Bill That Would Have Changed This
During the 2025-2026 legislative session, Kansas House Bill 2297 proposed authorizing the state animal health commissioner to issue permits specifically for raccoon ownership. Owners would have had to complete an educational program, vaccinate the animal, keep up annual veterinary checkups, and follow breeding restrictions, with a $1,000 fine and seizure for violations.7Kansas Legislature. Kansas House Bill 2297 – Relating to Raccoon Ownership The bill died in committee in April 2026 without a floor vote. The prohibition stands unchanged, and the recent legislative history suggests the political appetite for a legal ownership path is not there.