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Kansas Highway Patrol proposes reclassifying Capitol Police officers as state troopers to ease recruitment and promotion
Summary
The superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol briefed the LCC on a proposed HR reclassification that would move roughly 30 Capitol Police officers into the state trooper classification to improve morale, recruitment and promotion parity.
The superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol briefed the Legislative Coordinating Council on July 1 about a proposal to reclassify Capitol Police officers as state troopers to address recruitment and retention challenges.
Superintendent Smith said Kansas statute 74-2105 requires the superintendent to advise with the LCC regarding the supervision and management of the Capitol Police. He told the council that hiring, training and pay currently match state troopers, but recruitment suffers because applicants see the same career track and prefer to become state troopers. “This is to eliminate the classification of law enforcement officer,” Smith said, describing the change as an HR reclassification affecting about 30 of roughly 533 sworn positions.
Smith said the reclassification would address morale and provide more consistent discipline, recruitment and retention. He emphasized the proposal is an internal personnel reclassification within the Highway Patrol and not a statutory change presented to the council for approval at this meeting.
No motion or formal vote was taken; the superintendent paused for questions and the council did not take action on the item during the meeting.
