KCPOST warns docket-fee revenue may be exhausted early in FY28, urges options including fee increase

The Kansas Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (KCPOST) told the Legislative Budget Committee on Jan. 28 that its fee-funded budget is trending downward and could be depleted early in fiscal year 2028 without action.

Mike Brown, KCPOST executive director, said the agency added a full‑time investigator last session and on boarded the position this month, which should reduce investigative caseloads over time, but the agency’s central problem is a steady decline in docket‑fee revenue. "If things continue the way they are right now, within the first couple months of FY28, we won't have a budget, because our expenditures are gonna outrun the fee funds," Brown said.

Brown and KLRD fiscal analyst Nicole Rincher explained KCPOST receives most of its revenue from a $22.50 docket fee assessed on each municipal court case; KCPOST’s fund receives $5 of that fee. Brown outlined three priorities driving budget needs: staffing, technology upgrades (central registry and records management consolidation), and outsourcing website and IT tasks after the agency lost its in‑house IT specialist.

Rincher told the committee KCPOST’s FY25 approved budget was roughly $1.2 million and that the agency has no supplemental or enhancement requests for FY26. She also noted a recent legislatively approved investigator position added ~$103,000 and 1 FTE in the last session. Brown said salary savings from the investigator not being filled until late July account for some FY26 lapses, but the larger challenge is declining docket‑fee receipts.

During questioning, committee members asked for historical fee data. Brown provided annual docket‑fee receipts back to 2019 and said the fund was tracking about 15% below last year at the same point. A committee staff member cited KSA 12‑41.17 and said a 2016 law raised the docket fee from $20 to $22.50 and increased KCPOST’s statutory credit from $2.50 to $5.

KCPOST supplied FY25 operational metrics: 125 citizen complaints filed, 167 cases presented to the commission investigative committee, 82 certification actions, nine bias‑based policing complaints referred from the attorney general's office, and four administrative hearings. Brown said prior investigator staffing included one full‑time and two part‑time investigators who each carried 65–80 cases.

Brown told the committee KCPOST is examining options to address the structural shortfall, including a statutory increase to the docket fee, and is seeking guidance from the commission and the legislature on the best approach. The committee did not take action during the hearing; staff agreed to provide supplemental historical data on the fee fund on request.

The hearing closed and the committee moved to its next agenda item.