A pair of Kansas lawmakers are working on a plan that would move the Kansas Highway Patrol from out of the control of the governor and place it under the attorney general.
Republican state Rep. Stephen Owens of Hesston and state Sen. J.R. Claeys of Salina are working on the two-pronged plan that would give the attorney general control of the agency.
Owens is working on legislation that would move the KHP over to the attorney general, an office that Kris Kobach will assume in January.
Claeys, who served as Kobach’s campaign consultant, is crafting a bill that would give the attorney general the power to appoint the head of the Highway Patrol instead of the governor.
A key Democratic lawmaker said giving power over the Kansas Highway Patrol to Attorney General-elect Kobach was a “ridiculous idea,” saying he shouldn’t be given oversight of writing traffic tickets on Kansas highways.
The move comes about a week after the Highway Patrol appeared before a legislative panel and revealed that the number of sworn officers had dropped 15% since 2019.
Claeys and Owens have voiced concern about staffing levels at the Highway Patrol amid lawsuits that have accused the patrol’s top leadership of fostering a hostile work environment of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
Superintendent Herman Jones has been named in two lawsuits, including one brought in federal court by six former and current female employees of the Kansas Highway Patrol.
Two former Highway Patrol officers who said they were forced out of the patrol went to court contending they were retaliated against for helping female employees defend themselves against sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
Jones, the former Shawnee County sheriff, was tapped to lead the patrol by Gov. Laura Kelly in March 2019 after another shakeup at the agency.
“We have a governor that has chosen not to deal with the leadership issues at the KHP,” said Owens, chair of the House corrections committee.
“Look at what has happened in that agency in four years under its current leadership,” Owens said.
Data presented to a special joint legislative committee studying state employee compensation showed the 464 sworn officers this year, down from 547 in 2019.
The civilian staff is down 10 people in 2022 from 2019.
Earlier data obtained from the patrol showed the agency with 519 sworn officers in 2018 and 496 the year before.
The agency’s recruiting efforts also have been suffering in recent years,.
The agency graduated three troopers from its academy in June, seven in the class immediately prior and four in the class before that, the KHP data showed.
By comparison, 34 troopers graduated in July 2016, 48 graduated in 2017, 24 graduated in 2018 and 33 graduated in June 2019.
Highway Patrol Capt. Mitch Clark blamed the declining numbers on retirements, a shrinking labor pool and a lack of quality applicants who meet the patrol’s standards.
While Clark said pay could help, he told lawmakers that there are a number of factors that have made it difficult to recruit new troopers.
“People just don’t want to come work in law enforcement due to the dangers that are out there now,” Clark told committee members.
“We’re going through a time that law enforcement is not as attractive as it used to be,” Clark said. “We are dealing with a lot more violence and aggression out there.”
Clark told lawmakers that the personnel shortage was a national problem.
He pointed to Iowa as an example, where it was reported earlier this year that the state patrol was only planning to have 39 recruits for an upcoming academy class compared to a time when it attracted 2,000 to 3,000 applicants for a position.
Lawmakers have blamed the issue on low morale caused by by lawsuits accusing Jones and others of creating a hostile work environment marked by sexual harassment.
Some KHP employees have complained privately to lawmakers, saying the patrol suffers from low morale.
Add in a rising number of resignations from 2017 to 2020 – a jump from 35 to 53 – and there have been concerns about the agency’s staffing over the long term.
The governor’s office issued a statement in response to the proposed legislation.
“The Kansas Highway Patrol is a valued part of the Kelly administration and will continue to be throughout her time as governor,” said Deputy Communications Director Zach Fletcher.
Incoming House Speaker Dan Hawkins said lawmakers will thoroughly examine what’s happening at the agency.
“The House intends to fully dig into the Kelly administration’s mismanagement of the Kansas Highway Patrol,” Hawkins said in a statement.
“The past four years have witnessed scandal and mismanagement by KHP leadership, leading to a mass exodus of troopers,” he said.
“Based on the findings of the review, the legislature will consider all potential courses of action to ensure the mismanagement of the KHP does not continue.”
Senate President Ty Masterson shared a similar view.
“The Kansas Highway Patrol has been plagued with controversy for the past several years with no action to address it from the Kelly administration,” Masterson said in a statement.
“In light of the continued loss of experienced troopers and plummeting recruitment numbers, the Senate will take a serious look at proposals to reform the administration of the agency,” he said.
Democratic state Rep. John Carmichael of Wichita called the proposals a bad idea.
Carmichael said dissension at the Highway Patrol is not new, noting that there were morale problems at the agency under former Superintendent Ernest Garcia, who was appointed by former Gov. Sam Brownback.
A 2014 employee survey showed that 60% of KHP employees were disturbed by the way leadership of the organization handled workers under Garcia’s leadership.
Another 54% were skeptical that KHP leadership could capably make decisions.
“The cure that J.R. Claeys and other friends of Kris Kobach have for the problem is to just put Kris Kobach in charge,” Carmichael said.
“That is just a ridiculous idea,” he said.
“No matter what the problems at the patrol have been or perhaps are, no matter the cause or reason, placing Kris Kobach in charge would certainly not improve anything at the Kansas Highway Patrol,” he said.
“What is being proposed is literally to put Kris Kobach in charge of writing traffic tickets on the turnpike,” he said.
“People should understand that is a power grab by Kris Kobach,” he said.
“No matter what the troubles at the Highway Patrol may have been over the last 12 years, placing Kris Kobach in charge will only multiply those problems,” he said.
Carmichael said he believes Jones is at retirement age and could step down as Kelly moves into her second term.
“My pretty decent guess is we’ll see changes at the Highway Patrol without placing Kris Kobach in charge,” he said.
Claeys said he believes the controversies at the patrol are causing the agency to lose personnel and leaving it unable to patrol the state’s highways.
For instance, the Highway Patrol had 444 troopers as of July 1, 2021, down from 464 in 2019, according to data obtained from the agency a year ago.
At that time, the agency reported having 79 trooper vacancies.
“The Kansas Highway Patrol is falling apart and there are individuals deciding that this is about politics and not public safety,” Claeys said.
“Kansans deserve better and we need to do something now to fix it,” he said.
