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Highway Patrol credits 2024 career progression plan changes with modest recruitment gains; requests motorist technician pay increase
Summary
Kansas Highway Patrol officials told the committee that 2024 adjustments to the Highway Patrol career progression plan (CPP) — including a 10% pay increase and shortened progression to top pay — have coincided with small staffing gains for sworn officers and dispatchers; the agency asked for a federal‑funded increase to motorist assistance pay.
Merle Bridal, Executive Officer for the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP), briefed the committee on last year’s CPP changes and their early effects, saying the Legislature approved a 10% overall increase to the KHP sworn officer career progression plan for FY2025, a reduction in the years to top‑out pay and a 10% increase for dispatchers.
Why it matters: the Highway Patrol’s CPP pays troopers and Capitol Police law enforcement officers through a tiered matrix that increases wages by years of service and rank; the 2024 changes were intended to improve recruitment and retention for sworn positions and for dispatchers.
Details: Bridal said trooper trainee pay rose from $25.68 to $29.73 hourly and trooper pay rose from $28.31 to $32.78 after the FY2025 adjustment. The top‑out wages under the CPP were also accelerated from 21 to 16 years of service, producing maximum hourly caps by pay grade (examples cited: master/tech trooper $46/hour; lieutenant $54/hour; captain $65/hour). After six months of implementation, Bridal said the total number of sworn officers increased by seven to 467.
Dispatchers and motorist assistance technicians: Bridal told the committee the Legislature approved a 10% increase for dispatchers; entry‑level dispatcher hourly pay moved from $21.65 to about $25 and the KHP reported an increase of eight dispatchers compared with 2024 totals. The Patrol requested a federal‑funded pay increase for 19 motorist assistance technicians — a civilian, federally funded program administered through KDOT — moving entry pay from $15.73 to roughly $19.26 per hour. Bridal said the motorist assist positions are funded through a KDOT federal transfer and the requested increase would increase the federal transfer rather than add state headcount.
What’s next: Bridal said the CPP and dispatcher changes are showing some early, positive trends but the agency will continue to monitor recruitment and retention. The motorist assist request was pending the governor’s consideration at the time of the hearing.
Ending: committee members asked clarifying questions about pay tiers, top‑out timelines and vacancy counts; Bridal said majors and certain executive positions are unclassified and not in the CPP. The committee acknowledged the Patrol’s requests and thanked agency staff for the presentation.
