Missouri House passes bill to give Kansas City control over pay for police chief, officers
The Missouri House on Tuesday approved a bill that would give Kansas City more control over how much it pays its police chief and officers.
The bill, which passed 151-3, is joint legislation filed by state Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, and state Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican. It would remove the maximum salary cap for the Kansas City police chief and its officers in an attempt to attract and retain talent.
It also removes the requirement that applicants for chief be under 60 years of age and allows the police board to establish a salary range for officers.
“This bill is not going to solve crime problems in Kansas City,” Brown said on the floor Tuesday. “But the bottom line is that every piece helps.”
The bill now heads to the upper chamber. If both chambers pass the legislation, it would head to Republican Gov. Mike Parson’s desk. Parson is the former sheriff of Polk County.
Kelli Jones, a spokesperson for Parson, said the governor does not like to comment on bills until they reach his desk.
It comes as Kansas City has lagged behind other cities across the country in how much it pays its chief and officers. The department’s salary problem has been compounded by the city’s unusual lack of control of its police.
Kansas City is the only city in Missouri that does not control its police force. The department is overseen by a five-member board of police commissioners. Four are appointed by the governor and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas fills one spot.
Lora McDonald, executive director of MORE2, a Kansas City social justice group, told The Star on Tuesday that the bill illustrated how Kansas City needs true control of its own police force.
“We have heard that our chief’s salary is on the lower end, and that made it tough to be competitive to get a good chief. However, this is just one more thing that points to our need for local control,” she said. “None of this should be decided at the state level. It’s our money, Kansas City taxpayers, and they’re all too quick in Jefferson City to determine how we should spend it.”
Missouri law sets the annual salary of the Kansas City chief and the department’s sworn officers. The current salary cap for the chief is $189,726.
When the police board of commissioners appointed Stacey Graves as the chief late last year, it set her salary at $180,000. Graves earns far less than chiefs in peer cities and nearby departments.
Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum has an annual salary of $240,890. Raul Pazen, the police chief in Denver, makes $236,505. In Nashville, Police Chief John Drake is paid $234,000.
Neil Noakes, who leads the Fort Worth Police Department, another KCPD peer city, earned $227,136 in 2022, according to a salary database published by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Robert Tracy, the St. Louis police chief, has a base salary of $175,000 but the St. Louis Police Foundation kicks in another $100,000 annually. That means Tracy brings home $275,000 each year.
Lucas, Kansas City’s mayor, visited Jefferson City last month to urge lawmakers to vote in favor of the bill. He told the House Special Committee on Urban Issues that it was essential for the police board to have flexibility to set the salaries of its chief and officers.
“We want to make sure we have the tools to continue to take care of our officers, our command staff, and to make sure through the board of police commissioners we can be competitive with departments, not just in the Kansas City region but for us, other major cities, police departments all around the country,” Lucas said.
The last time Missouri lawmakers increased the maximum salary for the Kansas City chief was in 2013. It was part of an amendment that included a bill that allowed Kansas City police officers to participate in political activities while they were off duty.
Currently, a probationary KCPD officer can earn up to about $3,987 a month. The probation period lasts six months. The salary cap for police officers tops out at $6,958 a month. That amount doesn’t include if there are any cost of living increases after the top step, according to KCPD.
While the bill passed by the Missouri House would give Kansas City more control over police pay, some lawmakers are pushing to put St. Louis’ police department back under state control.
That effort, which comes 10 years after St. Louis regained local control of its police through a statewide vote, could damage ongoing efforts to bring Kansas City back in control of its own department.
This story was originally published February 21, 2023 at 5:14 PM.
