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Department of Public Safety outlines modernization, training campus and recruiting goals; requests restrained budget
Summary
DPS Director Tim Tipton told legislators the agency has modernized systems, is building a multi-use training facility, completed pistol modernization purchases and proposes a smaller appropriated budget for FY2026 than FY2025 while increasing per-cadet costs.
Department of Public Safety Director Tim Tipton told a legislative budget committee the agency has pursued cost-saving changes, bought new service pistols, begun training for transition, and will break ground on a new multi-use training facility.
Tipton outlined several modernization efforts: consolidation of regional homeland-security advisory structures, a new statewide electronic collision-reporting system (OCHERS) that will allow every collision report to be submitted electronically, pistol modernization purchases (agency transitioned from SIG to Glock and began two-day transition training), and updated payroll and human-resources systems after moving to Workday.
He said DPS will hold a groundbreaking for the long-planned tactical training facility at Wellston and that the site will include multiple firearm ranges and a driving track he expects to be used daily by state and federal law enforcement. "For the first time in the history of Oklahoma that every collision worked in the state ... they'll enter that collision electronically," Tipton said, describing the new traffic-records capabilities.
Tipton provided staffing and budget numbers: roughly 1,144 total FTEs across DPS and Highway Patrol, 26 budgeted but unfilled positions at the time of testimony, and an appropriated budget of $126,000,000 in the prior year. For FY2026 he said the department's request is $121,500,000, a reduction from the prior appropriated level. Tipton also said academy costs have risen: the first-year investment per cadet, including salary, equipment and training, is now about $200,000.
The agency also reported operational initiatives: the Oklahoma Child Abduction Response Team (OCART) recovered 63 children in 2024; a first-responder wellness program and new fitness deployments; consolidation and improved tracking of funded and unfunded positions; and construction projects for new troop headquarters in Tulsa, Clinton and Ardmore. Tipton said the department is managing legacy lease and bond payment savings to offset capital requests.
Committee members asked about potential duplication with CLEET training facilities and how the DPS facility would differ; Tipton said the missions differ (CLEET focuses on basic academies; DPS will provide advanced, ongoing continuing education, tactical, driving and range resources) and said the DPS site would be available to municipalities, counties and federal partners. Tipton also said the state is moving to modernize collision and traffic record data so highway-safety dollars are based on current rather than multiyear-old data.
No formal legislative action or votes were taken during the presentation. Tipton invited legislators to tour the Lincoln Data Center and the planned training campus and said the department will continue to provide follow-up documentation on grants, revolving funds and project timelines.
