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Sedgwick County emergency management highlights volunteer growth and emergency‑preparedness center need
Summary
Emergency Management Director Julie Stimpson reported the department is largely fully staffed, managing 250–275 volunteers, and described the emergency preparedness center and an ongoing outdoor warning system CIP as priorities to resolve equipment and logistics challenges.
Julie Stimpson, director of Sedgwick County Emergency Management, told commissioners her office is largely fully staffed and that volunteers are a force multiplier but create administrative burdens.
“We have about 250 to 275 volunteers,” Stimpson said, describing Community Emergency Response Team, canine search and amateur radio programs. The department has seen an 80% increase in requests for presentations, training and exercises over the last 18 months, she said, and expects continued volunteer growth.
Stimpson said the emergency preparedness center (a capital improvement project under consideration) would centralize PPE and response equipment now stored in multiple locations, provide space for emergency management and allow Emergency Communications to occupy more of the Public Safety Building. She urged continued funding for a six‑year outdoor warning system CIP that she said would raise coverage from 92% to 98% and reduce electrical and maintenance costs by an estimated $65,000 per year once fully implemented.
Threats cited included a 10% cut to the Emergency Management Performance Grant that currently funds two positions, decreased hazard‑mitigation grants and scrutiny of federal disaster programs. Stimpson said she had no decision packages for the 2026 general fund and asked the commission to continue CIP support where planned.
