Kansas Bureau of Investigation
Kansas state investigative agency, created in 1939 under the Attorney General
The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) is the state investigative agency of the US state of Kansas, organized as a division under the state's Attorney General. The KBI does not function as an independent police force with daily patrol duties, but as a specialized support and investigative institution that steps in for complex, serious or resource-intensive cases.
The bureau was created in 1939 by the Kansas legislature in response to an increasing complexity of crime that local authorities did not always have the capacity to handle on their own. Since its establishment, the KBI has had a mandate to investigate at the request of both the Attorney General and local police agencies throughout the state.
The KBI's work covers three primary areas: criminal investigation, forensic laboratory services, and the collection and dissemination of criminal justice information. The laboratories analyze evidence for law enforcement agencies across Kansas, while the investigative division assists in cases requiring particular expertise or cross-jurisdictional coordination.
In a true crime context — including in articles on unsolved cases such as the Dolly Madison killings — the KBI typically appears as the agency that has either led or supported the investigation of serious crimes in Kansas. The name always refers to this specific state institution, and not to a private organization or a generic designation for investigative authorities.
