State 9-1-1 board: transition complete and $2 million grant will map schools and critical facilities for first responders

Sherry Massey, representing the State 9-1-1 Board, briefed the committee on the board—s transition into a state agency (effective 07/01/2025) and on the board—s responsibilities for fee collection, hosted call-routing services, and PSAP oversight. She described the hosted solution used by most Kansas public-safety answering points (PSAPs), which includes IP call routing, GIS-based mapping, redundant broadband connectivity (switched Ethernet, local broadband and FirstNet LTE), and call-handling software and mapping applications.

Massey said the Legislature allocated $2 million in the FY26 budget for a critical facility mapping grant program to create standardized indoor and tactical maps of schools and other critical facilities. The program will prioritize K-12 school facilities; the board will award grants on a per-facility basis and use a round-robin distribution method to spread funding across PSAPs. As of the committee briefing, the board had received hundreds of applications, with schools forming the majority of requests.

Massey also summarized security controls for the hosted solution: centralized patch and version control for PSAP endpoints, mandatory security-awareness training for telecommunicators, and monitoring of the IP network by the contracted network provider and independent third-party oversight. The board is working with carriers and small rural local exchange carriers to achieve FCC-ordered migration to IP/SIP call delivery and geographic redundancy.

Ending: Massey said the board will complete the final accounting transition into the state treasury in January 2026 and will continue to work with PSAPs, carriers and federal partners to modernize call delivery and stand up the critical facility mapping work.