By ALIN HETT
Hays Post
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas, says federal law enforcement funding helps local agencies address rising demands and pay for basic equipment and training that can be difficult to afford with local budgets.
During a visit to Victoria City Hall on Thursday, Moran discussed $405,000 in federal funding for the Victoria Police Department and Ellis County Sheriff’s Office. Victoria is receiving $78,000, while the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office is receiving $327,000.
The Victoria Police Department plans to use its $78,000 grant for a four-wheel-drive patrol pickup, equipment upgrades and training. The Ellis County Sheriff's Office will be using their funds for additional body and vehicle cameras.
The funds are part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s COPS Office Technology and Equipment Program, which supports law enforcement equipment, technology and communications. The program’s fiscal 2026 funding includes projects designated in the federal appropriations process.
Moran, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science, said the requests were among the law enforcement projects he worked to secure.
He said Congress approved the funding package and it became law.
Moran said 96 of Kansas’ 105 counties had benefited from law enforcement funding he helped secure. He said he plans to help reach all 105 counties in 2026. During four years, he said, his efforts have directed $49.5 million to Kansas police departments and sheriff’s offices.
The funding, he said, helps agencies get equipment and technology that local governments might need but struggle to pay for.
“We all rely upon our sheriff and police department to take care of us, to protect us, to defend us,” Moran said. “The challenges that we face in rural communities that we used to seem to be able to avoid, have arrived upon our doorstep.”
Moran cited drugs and human trafficking as issues that have reached rural Kansas, adding the demands on law enforcement are growing. At the same time, he said, technology is expensive and local governments’ ability to pay for public services does not always keep pace.
“I don’t know of anything that we’ve assisted in purchasing with local law enforcement that would be called something extravagant,” Moran said. “It’s the basics that we have a difficult time funding.”
Moran said the federal dollars come through a process that allows lawmakers to direct funding to specific local needs. Without that push, he said, the money likely would not have reached Victoria or Ellis County.
“It’s probably not going to be spent in Victoria without our nudge, and it’s probably not going to be spent in Ellis County without our nudge,” Moran said.
Cole Dinkel, Victoria police chief, said the department has operated with basic equipment and has often relied on the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office when it needed help. Dinkel said the new funding will let the department purchase items it would not normally be able to afford.
“We’ve always kind of operated with bare essentials and no frills, nothing more,” Dinkel said.
The department has a four-wheel-drive patrol vehicle. The grant will help replace and upgrade equipment, including its camera system and radar, Dinkel said.
“We’re very appreciative of it,” John Schulte, Victoria mayor, said. “The vehicle itself is something we would buy anyway, but the fact that we’re getting this grant means that we can move it up a little earlier in the schedule to get it replaced now, rather than a year or a year and a half from now.”
Dinkel said the department also plans to use some of the funding for training on how to respond to mass shootings, including instruction for school staff and church parishioners.
Dinkel said that training will help prepare the community and officers to respond before an outside response team arrives.
Moran said the funding can support both public safety and officer safety.
“We also want to find the technology and capabilities, the training, things that we can do that increase the chances of the safety of those who serve in a blue uniform, black uniform,” Moran said. “Technology is something that is very helpful in protecting the lives and well-being of certainly citizens, but also our law enforcement officers.”
The Ellis County Sheriff’s Office will use its $327,000 grant to replace aging in-car and body-worn cameras. The department plans to buy 17 in-car cameras and 25 body-worn cameras.
Scott Braun, Ellis County sheriff, said the equipment has reached the end of its useful life. The new cameras will allow patrol and detention staff to use one recording platform, replacing the separate systems the departments currently maintain.
Braun said the footage can help reduce complaints, support officer safety and provide evidence for court. He also thanked Moran for securing the funding.
“This is a long-term fix for us to save tax dollars,” Braun said.
Braun also praised Victoria’s relationship with the sheriff’s office, saying the departments help each other when officers are busy or working in different parts of the county.
“It’s a two-way street,” Braun said.