Do Kansas, Missouri workers get Juneteenth off? What to know about the holiday
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- Kansas and Missouri state workers all receive Juneteenth as a paid holiday.
- Most city halls and county offices across Kansas City will close for Juneteenth.
- Major retailers remain open while USPS and trash services suspend operations.
Juneteenth, the national holiday commemorating the end of slavery, first touched down in Kansas City in 1980, according to the Kansas City Public Library.
Horace M. Peterson III, the founder of the Black Archives of Mid-America, brought the Juneteenth celebration to the 18th and Vine District, which is the site of the annual Juneteenth parade (unfortunately, it was rained out this year).
While the city’s celebrated the holiday for over four decades, Juneteenth didn’t become a federal holiday until 2021 after President Joe Biden signed it into law. This means that many workers will get Thursday, June 19, off, which they can spend at one of the Juneteenth events happening around Kansas City this year.
Some stores and private businesses will stay open on the holiday. Here’s what’s closed around Kansas City for Juneteenth.
Do Kansas and Missouri state workers get Juneteenth off?
Both state workers in Kansas and Missouri get Juneteenth off, according to each state’s holiday calendars.
Then-Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced in 2021 that state offices would be closed to commemorate the holiday, and it’s been that way ever since. Juneteenth is not designated a paid state holiday in law, but Missouri allows state workers a paid holiday for days designated by the governor or the president.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly designated Juneteenth as a holiday in 2023, and it’s now a part of the state’s federal holiday calendar.
What’s closed in Kansas City for Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is also observed by many local offices, including city halls in Kansas City, Independence, Overland Park, Lenexa and other governments across the metro.
Johnson, Wyandotte, Clay and Jackson county government offices will be closed Thursday. Platte County’s government website does not list Juneteenth as an observed holiday, but the county’s health department says it will be closed in observance.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 1 Memorial Drive, is closed in observance of the Juneteenth holiday. Other banks, like American National Bank, Bank of America, Capitol One, Chase, Commerce, J.P. Morgan and Wells Fargo will close for the holiday.
What government services will operate on Juneteenth?
Don’t expect to see your mailman delivering on Juneteenth. All post offices and its caller and post office box services around Kansas City will also be closed, the United States Postal Service said.
Kansas City trash service will also be suspended for the holiday, and service will move forward one day for the rest of the week (Thursday pickup will be on Friday, and Friday on Saturday).
What’s open on Juneteenth?
While post offices are closed, you can expect to see deliveries from UPS and FedEx. These services are open and operating on Juneteenth.
National retailers like Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, Walgreens and Whole Foods are open during the holiday. So are many restaurants and fast-food locations across Kansas City.
Hours may vary, so check with your closest store for more details.
Juneteeth has a flag? What is the federal holiday?
Juneteenth is play on the date of June 19, 1865, when the Union Army made its way into Galveston, Texas, where General Gordon Granger announced to the state that all enslaved African Americans were free in 1865. The Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln freed African American slaves in Confederate states, like Texas, earlier on Jan. 1, 1863, but it wasn’t fully enforced until 1865.
You may see two flags flown for Juneteenth: one is red, white and blue, and the other is red, black and green.
The flag that’s red, white and blue features a star, referred to as the “bursting star of freedom.” The five-point star in the middle represents Texas, where the Juneteenth holiday was first celebrated. A bigger star surrounds the five-point star to tell about the spread of freedom.
The flag is split horizontally with the red arched into the blue, signifying the bloodshed of the enslaved and depicting a new horizon. The blue is for the sky, and the colors share the American flag.
The African Liberation Flag is the second flag you may see, which was designed to tell the story of the unity among people from Africa, according to the National Museum of African American History. Red stands for the struggle and sacrifice, Black stands for Black people and green stands for the natural wealth of the land of Africa, the museum says.
This story was originally published June 18, 2025 at 2:17 PM.
