8 September 2023
KINGMAN, Kan. (KSNW) – In Kingman, a dispute is occurring between the City and the County over who should have jurisdiction over emergency services.
Dozens of people filed into the Kingman Historic Theatre Thursday night for a community forum.
It all has to do with a disagreement over whether the City of Kingman should let the County take over emergency services. The disagreement begins with who pays for dispatch services.
In Kingman, the City operates emergency services and contracts those services out to the county. The cost for dispatch services is split with the County and City footing the bill. Something the mayor disagrees with.
“There’s no reason city taxpayers should’ve paid for dispatch,” said Adrian Harrel, Kingman Mayor and City Commissioner.
The City says its residents already pay for EMS through the taxes they pay to the County. The City wants dispatch services to be funded only through county taxes.
The County says they don’t want to pay for dispatch because they have no say over emergency services. They contract the City to run EMS.
“It’s just the county getting the bill,” Jerry Henning, Kingman County District 2 Commissioner.
The County says they will pay for dispatch if they can take over emergency services and law enforcement.
They would then dissolve the city police department and integrate it into a county sheriff’s department.
“If County runs EMS everyone gets to input. When City runs, only City gets to input,” said Henning.
The City wants to keep control over EMS and police. They say the only way they’ll consider allowing the change is if the county adds two commissioners from the City of Kingman to the three-member county commission to ensure the city has representation.
Both the City and County commissioners say they want to reach a resolution. There’s no timeline for that, but the current contract expires in December.