Groundbreaking marks new era for Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center

Wearing hard hats and holding shovels at the indoor KLETC expansion groundbreaking include, from left, Kansas Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, Kansas Speaker of the House Daniel Hawkins, Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, KLETC Director Darin Beck, Chancellor Douglas A. Girod and Board of Regents member Wint Winter.

Individuals at the KLETC groundbreaking include, from left, Kansas Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, Kansas Speaker of the House Daniel Hawkins, Provost Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, KLETC Director Darin Beck, Chancellor Douglas A. Girod and Board of Regents member Wint Winter.

Fri, 05/30/2025

George Taylor

YODER — University of Kansas and state legislative leadership broke ground on major renovations at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Hutchinson on May 23, part of a bold campus master plan to support its competency-based curriculum and to expand programs to meet the training needs of partners in public safety.

Rendering of future KLETC space, including a dormitory for students attending longer training programs at the campus near Hutchinson.

The first phase of the project includes two major additions to the KLETC campus. One is a new administration building that will provide office space and classrooms. The other is a dormitory with 46 suites for students attending longer training programs. A standout feature of the administration building will be a 12-foot by 13-foot Jayhawk mounted on the south side of the building, visible from across the quad, displaying the campus relationship to KU.

A rendering of a new building at the KLETC campus will include a 12-foot by 13-foot Jayhawk.

Due to anticipated inclement weather, organizers brought the groundbreaking inside Integrity Auditorium, and the ceremony moved forward without missing a beat.

Darin Beck, vice provost of KLETC and director of police training for the state of Kansas, said how meaningful the day was to everyone involved.

“It’s exciting because everything we’re talking about started here,” Beck said. “It started as an idea. It started as a combination of ideas with shared visions from everyone in this room — shared visions from our students, our staff and the state.”

Chancellor Douglas A. Girod also spoke at the event.

“It really is a great day for the Law Enforcement Training Center, for the state and for KU. We’re so excited to be part of what the Law Enforcement Training Center does and the support it provides for our state,” he said.

Barbara Bichelmeyer, KU provost and executive vice chancellor, praised the creative thinking behind the project.

“It’s been such a joy to see the innovation they’ve brought to the Law Enforcement Training Center,” she said. “They’ve thought boldly about what it could be, what it should be, what the state needs, and honestly, what the nation needs. And they’ve shared that vision far and wide.”

This first phase of construction is being funded with $20 million from the state of Kansas. The money comes from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

Speaker of the Kansas House Dan Hawkins said the ceremony marked the beginning of something bigger.

“This is the start of a long journey that Darin probably won’t even get to see completed,” Hawkins said. “But I can tell you we’re going to continue working really hard to make sure KLETC has the resources it needs to serve the students who come through here.”