Here’s how much Sedgwick County is paying for a new Sheriff’s Office airplane
Suspects arrested around the country in connection with Wichita-area crimes often arrive in the Air Capital by plane, specifically the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office’s 1975 Rockwell Commander.
By the end of the year, Sheriff Jeff Easter will have a new aircraft — a 2001 Beechcraft King Air 350 previously owned by the Kansas Highway Patrol that the county is purchasing for $2.5 million.
“We’ve got a great deal,” Sedgwick County Commissioner David Dennis said.
Easter told commissioners the plane is actually worth about $4.2 million. The lower price point was negotiated with the highway patrol and Textron Aviation, which is building a new plane for KHP.
Easter said his office racks up an average of 1,560 flying hours a year on two to three flights per week.
The current Sheriff’s Office plane has fallen into disrepair and some Commander parts are no longer being made, he said. The commission set aside $1.8 million for a replacement plane in 2021 but several other King Air purchases fell through.
“Every time we turned around and we found a plane and were getting ready to buy it, somebody offered a whole lot more money than what we had available and it sold,” Dennis said.
On May 3, the commission approved the purchase of the turboprop plane, which comfortably seats eight passengers and has cabin dimensions of 19.2 feet long, 4.5 feet wide and 5 feet tall.
The additional $700,000 needed for the King Air will come from the county’s general fund. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson told The Eagle that the county will not take possession of the aircraft until this fall.
‘The most conservative way to do this’
Sheriff’s Office flights include two pilots up front and one deputy to guard single prisoners in the air or two deputies if there’s more than one inmate.
“When we take our trips, very rarely are we just picking up one prisoner,” Easter said. “We try to schedule our trips so that we’re able to fly out and pick somebody up and on the way back, fly through a place . . . pick up those inmates and then bring them back to Wichita.”
The Sheriff’s Office drives to pick up prisoners when it’s cheaper, but cross-country travel is easier by plane, Easter said.
“When we’re talking about having to go to Florida when our plane is down, which it’s been down quite often because of the age of it, we’re talking about 23-hour drives to Florida,” Easter said. “Then, coming back, we have to find jails to hold the prisoner overnight.
“It’s just not practical.”
Commercial flights are expensive and Easter said his department has been turned away before trying to fly with airlines.
“The biggest problem with commercial flights is, the pilot can tell you ‘You’re not coming on my plane with a prisoner or armed,’ and we’ve run into those situations,” he said. “Also, it can be a very expensive mode of travel.”
Before the new plane can be used for inmate transport, an eye bolt must be added in the cabin for securing prisoners’ chains.
Commissioner Jim Howell said he’s convinced that a King Air is the most cost-effective solution for the county.
“After I did a lot of data analysis on this, it made a lot of sense,” Howell said. “This is the most conservative way to do this.”
Easter said his department has already received two inquiries to buy the Commander once it is replaced. Proceeds of the sale will go back to the county.
Because Beechcraft is headquartered in Wichita, the Sheriff’s Office won’t have to fly to Indiana for maintenance or Florida for pilot training as it does with the Commander.
