Attorney General outlines staffing shortfalls, VINE costs and relocation requests as office seeks additions

Attorney General Kobach and his staff appeared before the Committee on General Government Budget to present the Office of the Attorney General’s budget request and to explain program priorities, staffing shortages and specific enhancement requests for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

Kobach said the office has seen progress in recruiting but still faces a notable vacancy rate. "Our agency, if you count attorneys and non attorneys altogether, we have a 15% vacancy rate," he said, and provided a staffing snapshot: 204.1 FTEs authorized with 31.5 vacancies. He told the committee the office has added a net of 11 attorneys over the last two years but has also lost senior attorneys to federal and state positions.

The attorney general described recent litigation successes and enforcement work, including $3.2 million in settlements for state funds in fiscal 2024, increased restitution from the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit and expanded organized retail crime prosecutions. He also said concealed‑carry permit processing has accelerated and that Kansas saw a 27% increase in concealed‑carry permits following elimination of the $100 state fee.

On information security and victim services, Kobach noted obligations and cost pressures tied to recent procurements. The office is requesting funding for a chief information security officer and supporting IT work to meet statutory security requirements; staff testimony and the budget documents indicated a prorated FY2025 cost of about $91,000 for the CISO position plus $100,000 for cybersecurity updates and maintenance. Kobach also described a VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) contract in which bids came in higher than anticipated; the office requested an additional $248,000 to cover updated vendor costs after the RFP returned a single higher bid.

Kobach asked for additional resources for the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) after the governor's veto last year of a proviso that had intended to fund new OMIG positions; the FY2026 request included about $304,000 for three OMIG positions. He also requested $450,000 SGF to support costs of relocating and consolidating the Attorney General’s offices into Memorial Hall and associated buildings; he described higher than expected move and panel‑wall costs in the historically significant building.

Agency witnesses described program details during questions. Tabitha Maloney, the office’s budget officer, and Charles Dalton, chief of staff, answered committee questions about specific funds and grant programs. Fiscal analysts noted the FY2026 AG request represented roughly a 3% increase over the FY2025 approved request when natural gas litigation and other one‑time items are set in the materials.

Other program notes in testimony included the Medicaid Inspector General’s reporting of investigations and identified waste, the DARE coordinator training (132 officers trained in the prior fiscal year) and reductions in processing time for charity registrations and concealed‑carry applications. Kobach asked the committee to consider victim services and security as priorities, describing VINE as a real‑time notification system that delivered more than 100,000 notifications in 2024 and saying, "Victim services is a high priority for me."

The committee did not adopt final appropriations in the hearing; staff said some FY2025 reappropriations would be reconsidered in the ongoing session and that supplemental requests may be adjusted as the committee prepares recommendations.

Ending: Committee leadership set follow‑up work and scheduled further consideration for the next meeting; staff offered to provide additional detail about lists of grant recipients and OMIG staffing as requested.