Lenexa Justice Center Project

Lenexa Police Department
Dawn Layman, Chief of Police

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Check back on this webpage for status updates on the Lenexa Justice Center project.

The new Lenexa Justice Center at Britton Street and Prairie Star Parkway will meet the future space and programming needs of the Lenexa Police Department and Lenexa Municipal Court. Lenexa’s current building has reached the end of its useful life, and the new facility will enhance security, training, communications, dispatch and records and evidence storage. Operations will continue out of the current Public Safety Complex until construction is complete, which is anticipated to be late 2023 or early 2024.

New features planned for the Justice Center include:

Appropriate facilities for mental health co-responders to conduct outreach and follow up on calls

A separate, modern space for special unit victims to meet detectives in a safe and comfortable environment

A public meeting room to host community events
A state-of-the-art communications center for dispatchers
Police officer training facilities

Project status

December 2021

The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) was amended at the Dec. 21, 2021 City Council meeting to increase the cost of this project from $65 million to $73 million, due to global market conditions. JE Dunn was awarded a contract for construction that is expected to begin in the fall of 2022.

July 2021

The Lenexa City Council approved a contract with Finkle-Williams, a Lenexa business, to design a new justice center at Prairie Star and Britton Street that will incorporate facilities for police, court and police training.

2020

The results of the Public Safety Facility Study were presented to the Lenexa City Council, with direction to move the Police Department and Municipal Court from its current location at W. 87th Street and Monrovia, to a more central location at Prairie Star Parkway and Britton Street.

2019

The City of Lenexa commissioned the PGAV / MWL team to work with designated City leaders to analyze and understand Police Department and Municipal Court facility needs and the capacity of current facilities to accommodate those needs.

A central location in the community

The new centralized site will make it easier for residents to access services like walk-in reports, fingerprints, detective interviews and court services. Police response times will not be affected, as patrol officers are assigned specific districts to patrol. A centrally located facility will also give police the best opportunity to provide faster response time as backup on calls and will cut down on time to get back and forth from the facility when critical incidents unfold.

Will response times be effected when the public safety facility moves to a more central location in Lenexa?

Response times will not be effected. Patrol officers are assigned districts to patrol. Once a patrol officer receives his or her daily assignment, they drive to their assigned area of Lenexa and patrol that geographic boundary. The location of the public safety facility would not change that.

What are some of the benefits of a centralized location?

The Police Department will continue to provide effective and efficient service at the new location. As we grow to the West, the centralized location offers the ability for more citizens to quickly access the site for walk-in reports, fingerprinting services, child safety seat inspections, detective interviews, court services and much more. The centralized site will also provide overall improved access to several major highways and thorough fares including I-435, K10, K7, I-35 and Prairie Star Parkway.

Why can’t we remodel and expand the current public safety facility?

The Public Safety Master Plan review team studied this issue extensively. The existing footprint is not configured and large enough to accommodate the projected space and training needs of the Police Department, including Courts and the Information Technology Department. Best practices for police department design stresses the importance of locating certain functions next to each other. If the current building sq. footage could be utilized, Courts would continue to separate Police work areas that should be adjacent. The current building is also aging and needs significant repairs to the roofing system and heating and cooling systems. In addition, the current facility was built and added onto over a period of years. These additions have resulted in several less than optimal situations, such as; floor elevation changes within a floor plate, structural limitations to allow expanding areas or creating necessary adjacencies, the forcing of functions into spaces that are not adequately sized or configured as well as others. These less than optimal situations significantly hampers the ability of the police force to carryout their daily function in an effective and efficient manner.

Why do we need additional space for training in the new facility?

Training for our officers is imperative for the safety of the community and our officers. Additional training space would allow us to provide adequate training rooms for emergency management activities, defensive tactics, de-escalation training, and firearm simulations that are critical for citizen and officer safety.

What will happen to the existing site when the new facility is complete?

It will take several years to design and build the new complex at Prairie Star Parkway and Britton. While that is happening, the current site will be utilized. The use of the current site is subject to future City Council discussions and staff direction.

What are the projected costs of the Lenexa Justice Center?

The City is projecting a $73 million dollar cost for the project.