Highway patrol details Salina reconfiguration, headquarters move to Curtis building; dispatch center funded
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Summary
The Kansas Highway Patrol told the Joint Committee on State Building Construction it will relocate its general headquarters to the Curtis State Office Building, build a new central dispatch in west Salina and pursue a consolidated Salina campus in partnership with KSU Salina. The committee recommended the agency's five‑year capital plan.
The Joint Committee on State Building Construction on Nov. 18 reviewed and recommended the Kansas Highway Patrol's (KHP) five‑year capital improvement plan, which includes a funded new central dispatch facility and planned relocations of troop facilities and the training academy in Salina.
Merle Bridal, chief of staff for the Kansas Highway Patrol, told the committee the agency manages more than 100 facilities statewide and is prioritizing a small set of major projects in FY‑26 and beyond. The committee approved $24 million from federal ARPA interest funds already appropriated for a new, highly technical dispatch center on KDOT property in west Salina and heard updates on selection of an architect and early design work.
Bridal said a modern dispatch center requires specialized equipment, secure spaces and substantial technology investment in addition to construction costs. The legislature approved the appropriation in 2025, and KHP awarded an architect contract in September 2025. Bridal said the design team and the Department of Administration's Facilities and Property Management division were working on detailed specifications.
KHP also described plans to relocate its general headquarters into the Curtis State Office Building in Topeka. The agency asked for $2 million in FY‑26 and $2 million in FY‑27 to remodel and outfit space vacated by other state agencies. Bridal said the move consolidates headquarters staff into one location, will provide improved secure interview and weapons storage space and will give KHP a gated employee parking facility adjacent to the building.
On Salina, the patrol described a campus reconfiguration. The department proposed relocating Troop C headquarters and Troop S facilities and co‑locating a Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) regional office in a single complex on KDOT property next to the planned dispatch center. Bridal said a KHP‑KSU Salina partnership is under negotiation that would place the KHP training academy on KSU property in west Salina, allowing shared use of dormitories, auditoriums and gym space and reducing construction costs compared with a standalone new academy.
The committee approved the KHP plan on a voice vote. Committee members commended the agency for progress on the dispatch funding and the potential KSU partnership; several asked for follow‑ups on project schedules and funding sources for later phases, including troop facility modernization and periodic scale house replacements across the state.
