This Wichita suburb plans to build a $11.5M justice center. Here’s why

Goddard plans to move its police department and municipal court out of space it shares downtown with City Hall employees and into a facility that will be built at a maximum cost of $11.5 million on city-owned property off 199th Street West north of Kellogg.

The Goddard City Council got the justice center project started last month when it approved a resolution that allowed the design process to begin.

During the next four to six weeks, the city will spend $20,000 to $30,000 to pick a firm to help refine the building program and floor plan, according to City Manager Craig Crossette.

During the fourth quarter of this year, the city plans to solicit bids for full design documents on the project, Crossette said. And by the end of the year or in early 2027, the city should be able to select a design firm for the project.

The city is likely to schedule the design process to take most of 2027 so Goddard’s STAR bond district proceeds will be ready to pay for the project when construction starts, Crossette said. Construction should start by mid-2028 at the latest and take no more than 18 months to complete. STAR bond districts, approved by the state of Kansas, are a way that cities can help fund major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects.

Goddard and its police department have doubled in size

Police Chief Lance Beagley said the police department has needed a larger facility for some time. But it wasn’t until Crossette returned to Goddard as city manager in 2023 and worked with Chief Financial Officer Brooke Carroll, the current City Council and Mayor George Liebe that all the pieces fell in place to allow the project to happen.

Beagley joined the Goddard Police Department 20 years ago, when the city had a population of 3,522, according to Census data estimates. Beagley said the police department had seven people on the force at the time.

Today, Goddard has a population of 6,638, according to Census estimates, and 15 sworn officers and two civilian employees in the police department. The city has put funding for a 16th officer in the budget.

“It’s almost reached a point of unprofessionalism with how people should be treated,” Beagley said.

Goddard’s modest City Hall, at 118 N. Main, has a City Council chambers that doubles as the Municipal Court. That side of the building also houses the police department, and the police department holds its daily and weekly meetings in the chambers. Offices and work space for 12 other city employees are on the other side of the hall. Some also use the empty council chambers space during the day to have meetings with developers and others doing business with the city.

On court nights, people who might be challenging a speeding ticket are lined up in the Municipal Court space and sometimes into the hallway with people who are being summoned for everything from domestic violence to misdemeanor drug possession.

“You have people coming in here, and the hallway is packed with attorneys, court-appointed attorneys, the defendants — it is chaos,” Beagley said.

Added Crossette: “It’s hard for the normal citizenry to understand how the city of Goddard has functioned with the constraints that we’ve had for so long. Every citizen really truly would expect a professional building and professional staff. You want the best staff you can possibly get, and if you don’t have a professional environment that’s already one strike against you.”

What does Goddard want in new justice center?

Although a final design for the justice center is still more than a year away, Beagley said he would like to see spaces for conference rooms, work space for officers to fill out their paperwork, an interview room and places to store tactical gear and evidence, among other things. And, of course, the facility would need adequate space for Municipal Court proceedings, Beagley said.

“I don’t want a lot of glass that’s just for show. …,” Beagley said, referring to some police stations being built in other parts of the state. “Would I love to have heated parking lots and heated sidewalks? That’d be great because it would be great for the citizens. But those aren’t the things I’m going to be asking for.”

One thing he will ask for is a more humane kennel space that Goddard’s animal control unit will use to contain animals found running free until they can be reclaimed by their owners.

The current confinement space that the animal control unit, under the supervision of the police department, has is outside and not in the best shape, Beagley said.

“I’m glad that we have good Kansas Department of Health and Environment inspectors that are understanding of (our situation), because it could easily be shut down,” Beagley said.

“We want a financially responsible facility that will meet our current and future practical needs,” Crossette said. “And that alone would be a major upgrade compared to where we are and where we’ve been.”

STAR bond district financing key

The justice center is one of several projects in Goddard’s new, 10-year, $135 million capital improvement plan, which was approved by the City Council last year.

Crossette is confident that the city can pay for the justice center without an increase in property taxes because of Goddard’s STAR bond district, which includes a Walmart, Hampton Inn and a variety of entertainment venues such as the Blast Off Bay indoor water park.

The bonds allow cities to use future sales tax projections within that district to pay off initial development costs.

Crossette said the STAR bond district in Goddard generates about a million dollars a year in sales tax revenue that is tied up in paying off the STAR bonds used to get the entertainment complex going.

He expects those bonds to be paid off no later than December 2028, at which time sales tax proceeds can be shifted to other projects, such as the justice center.