Ellis County adopts March 2025 Emergency Operations Plan

Ellis County commissioners on June 17 voted unanimously to adopt the March 2025 update to the county Emergency Operations Plan and authorized the commission chair to sign a promulgation letter.

The move completes a local adoption step required after county staff updated the plan and received preliminary approval from the Kansas Department of Emergency Management, officials said. The plan includes a new "EOP mapper" electronic database intended to help state and assisting agencies locate critical infrastructure and map overlays during a large-scale incident.

Emergency manager staff presented the plan to the commission and described revisions made to meet the 2020 Kansas planning standards. The plan itself was described as a playbook and checklist for incident response; staff said the full document is for official use only and will not be released to the general public. The county will maintain and periodically update inventories inside the plan so that response information remains current.

Commissioners asked about the plan's update cycle and how long the adopted version will remain in effect. Staff said the current document will be valid through Dec. 31, 2031, and recommended routine updates (at least annually for inventory items) to avoid lengthy multi-year revision efforts.

No public comment was recorded on the item. After a motion to adopt the plan and a second, the vote was recorded as 3-0 in favor.

County officials said adoption locally completes the step needed for the state to accept the plan as an approved document for use in mutual aid and coordinated response.

The commission did not discuss releasing the plan's full text to the public, and staff reiterated that the EOP is classified for official use only.