Appropriations committee approves Highway Patrol and Corrections budgets for FY2026-27

The Committee on Appropriations voted to approve revised budgets for the Kansas Highway Patrol (KHP) and the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 following presentations and member questions.

Chair Anderson told the committee KHP's FY2026 revised estimate is $159,200,000 from special revenue funds, an increase of about $1.8 million largely tied to two supplemental requests: initial costs for relocating the general headquarters and IT infrastructure purchases. Anderson said special-committee recommendations removed $2,000,000 for phase one of the relocation to the Curtis State Office Building and $234,990 for connection authentication systems and dispatch computers, though other committees later restored some of those amounts. "I'll stand for questions on '26," Anderson said after the presentation.

On FY2027 Anderson reported a KHP request of $177,900,000 including $28,800,000 SGF with proposed enhancements that included relocating certain troops, replacing a southbound scale house, purchasing a Cessna aircraft, upgrading Tasers and a second phase of headquarters relocation. Representatives asked whether items such as the Olathe scale house work were relocations or modernizations and pressed on enforcement and aircraft needs; Anderson said the committees prioritized requests and that some items were pushed to later years. After discussion, Anderson moved to approve the KHP budgets for FY2026 and FY2027; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

For KDOC, Anderson presented a FY2026 revised estimate of $670,200,000 including $614,800,000 SGF and 3,485 FTEs. The revised estimate included large reappropriations (including $31.8 million to the evidence-based programs account), a $432,837 supplemental request to fully fund the food-service contract, and adjustments for facility rehabilitation and federal grant changes. When Vice Chair Williams asked for the total inmate population and undocumented-inmate counts by facility, Anderson said the total population was "just south 10,000" and pledged to provide exact figures and reporting details after the meeting.

Anderson moved the KDOC budgets for FY2026 and FY2027 and the committee approved the motion by voice vote.

The committee recorded no roll-call vote totals in the transcript; approvals were recorded by unanimous voice votes or the chair's announcement that the motion passed. The committee proceeded to subsequent agenda items after the votes.

Next steps: the committee will continue budget report-outs in additional meetings and finalize the budget bill in the coming week.