The Kansas Highway Patrol is converging on Hutchinson.

According to the agency, Kansas Highway Patrol troopers from across the state, as well as some of the Patrol’s dispatchers, will be working at the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson throughout the duration of the fair to provide security and law enforcement duties on the fairgrounds. Other personnel will provide traffic control in the Hutchinson and Reno County area.  Each year, the Patrol’s State Fair duty provides their personnel a chance to interact with the public in a more relaxed manner, and affords the public an opportunity to engage with our personnel in a more direct manner.

While at the fair, our officers assist with traffic control, respond to medical calls, help look for missing children, take reports on stolen items, respond to fights, and provide security at the grandstand events. To ensure that we also have adequate coverage in the outlying county areas, we have additional troopers from other areas of the state who travel to Hutchinson to help with this annual event. This year’s fair runs from Friday, September 9, through Sunday, September 18.

The Kansas Highway Patrol also has a booth set up at the fair, where you can go to ask questions and interact with KHP personnel.  This year the Patrol’s booth has a new location, and will be located on Bison Blvd., just north of Cottonwood Ave., and is next to the Kansas Lottery building. Our booth is manned by the patrol’s Public Resource Officers who are stationed throughout the state, and are trained to provide safety programs on a wide variety of topics to schools, civic organizations, and others who request programs. This year’s booth focuses on recruitment.

Each year the Kansas State Fair offers patrol personnel a chance to work something different than the norm. They look forward to working there, interacting with the public, and meeting the children and families who we serve every day.