Leavenworth County reviews draft Emergency Operations Plan; staff to seek proclamation for adoption

Emergency Management Director presented a draft Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) to the Leavenworth County Board of County Commissioners during a work session, saying the plan "is the document that we use in, the state of Kansas by statute that becomes law in the event of a disaster." The director said the EOP would be activated if the county declared a disaster and that it is structured around 15 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs).

The director demonstrated the plan's digital tools, including the Kansas EOP Mapper, WebEOC and County View 360, and emphasized that those systems are restricted-access: "This is a closed website, sir," he said when asked whether the mapper is public. He said the county and state update layers such as pipeline ownership and rail lines so responders have current situational awareness. The director described the EOP as a "toolbox" that contains the basic plan and a larger set of protected annexes, noting elements such as cybersecurity and biohazard response are intentionally redacted from the public-facing materials.

Commissioners questioned operational readiness for mass-casualty events, including active-shooter incidents at schools. The director said each school district and hospital maintains its own emergency operations plan that is aligned to the county plan and that roles and responsibilities are spelled out so agencies know how to coordinate. "Each school district has their own emergency operations plan," he said, and "when there is an incident, whatever it is, they're gonna refer to this plan. They're gonna go to their plan. They're also gonna refer to it." He added that resource requests must be routed through the county emergency manager for tracking and accountability.

On exercise schedules, the director said the state requires two exercises per year and that the county typically exceeds that by conducting tabletop and full exercises. He described a recent and an upcoming exercise involving Saint Mary University and said the county is preparing a mass-casualty drill: "We do exercise on a regular basis" and "we're required by the state to have 2 exercises a year."

During a navigation demonstration of ESF 13 (security/public safety), staff showed the ESF listing that identifies the sheriff's office as the coordinator and noted a missing entry the presenter referred to as "Tom and Knox" that will need to be added. The director also described a separate debris management plan that governs staging items such as dumpsters used after the Linwood tornado; the debris plan, he said, handles placement and the calculations required for rural deployment.

The director recommended the board adopt the plan by proclamation rather than a resolution so the living document can be updated between formal reviews; he said the next full update is scheduled for October 2029. He told commissioners the next procedural step would be to place a nomination on a future agenda to have the proclamation signed; no formal vote occurred in the work session.

The work session included several clarifying points about authorities, data sources and coordination: county staff said maps and incident logs in WebEOC are permanent records used for reimbursement and situational awareness; that hazard analyses drive the planning process; and that EFN Consultants assisted earlier in building the planning tools. Commissioners pressed staff for clearer notification procedures for elected officials during incidents; the director said incident information historically flowed to the sheriff and was also shared with the county administrator, and that staff will follow that practice and notify county leadership as appropriate.

Next steps raised at the work session were scheduling the proclamation for a future agenda, adding missing jurisdictional entries in ESF listings, continuing interagency exercises with school districts and first responders, and verifying contact and plan updates with each school district. The board adjourned after the discussion; no formal adoption or vote on the EOP was recorded in the transcript.