Abbreviation KBI Employees 253 | Formed 1939 | |
Motto Dedication. Service. Integrity. Legal personality Governmental: Government agency | ||
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is the criminal investigative arm of the state of Kansas. The agency is a division of the state's Attorney General. Among the KBI's responsibilities are providing investigative and criminal laboratory services to criminal justice agencies, as well as investigating and preventing crime in the state of Kansas. Kirk Thompson is the current director of the KBI.
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The KBI has 72 special agents and 181 civilian employees.
The KBI was the primary agency involved in the murder investigation chronicled in Truman Capote's In Cold Blood as well as confirming the identity of the BTK Killer in Wichita.
History
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) was established in 1939 by the Kansas Legislature to combat the increasing magnitude and complexity of crime in general and bank robberies in particular. The KBI is a division of the Office of Attorney General and is headed by a director appointed by the Attorney General.
When established, the KBI was directed to conduct investigations at the request of the Attorney General and local law enforcement and to maintain state criminal justice records. Later, the KBI Laboratory was added and the KBI, traditionally, has also assisted in the training of local law enforcement officers and provided crime trend information to public officials, local law enforcement and citizens.
Directors
Since its beginning, the KBI has had 12 directors.
- Lou Richter (1939–1956)
- Logan H. Sanford (1957–1969)
- Harold R. Nye (1969–1971)
- Fred H. Howard II (1971–1975)
- William H. Albott (1975–1979)
- Thomas E. Kelly (1979–1987)
- David E. Johnson (1987–1989)
- James G. Malson (1989–1992)
- Robert B. Davenport (1992–1994)
- Larry Welch (1994–2007)
- Robert E. Blecha (2007–2011)
- Kirk D. Thompson (2011–present)
Office locations
The KBI maintains offices at the following locations.