Late in 1996, the Kansas Corporation Commission, which oversees telecommunications in the state, requested relief from the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA) for the exchanges of area code 913. On February 12, 1997, the NANPA announced that 913 would be cut back to the Kansas side of the Kansas City area, while most of the western portion of the old 913 plan area–everything from Lawrence westward–was split off as area code 785, effective on July 20, 1997. Permissive dialing of 913 continued across northern Kansas until October 3, 1998.