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Minutes for HB2436 - Committee on Transportation
Short Title
Designating a portion of United States highway 69 as the Brandon Collins memorial highway.
Minutes Content for Thu, Mar 1, 2018
Chairperson Petersen opened the hearing and Scott Wells, Revisor's Office, gave an overview. This bill names a portion of U.S. 69 in Johnson County as the Brandon Collins Memorial Highway.
Representative John Resman gave proponent testimony (Attachment 1) noting that in 2016, Master Deputy Brandon Collins conducted a traffic stop and, while he was sitting inside, his patrol vehicle was struck from behind, and Master Deputy Collins died at the scene from blunt force trauma. The impact caused the patrol car's gas tank to rupture, consuming his vehicle in fire. The driver of the other vehicle, a pickup truck, was intoxicated at the time.
Master Deputy Collins had previous assignments in the Detention and the Narcotics Divisions, and he never turned down a request to assist anyone or another division, said Representative Resman. He was a professional law enforcement officer. Representative Resman described himself as a retired Johnson County Deputy Sheriff, and he personally knew and worked with Master Deputy Collins. He asked the Committee to support this bill for the highway naming.
Sgt. Chris Mills provided proponent testimony (Attachment 2). He was a very close friend to Master Deputy Collins who was on a traffic stop and not answering his phone. Sgt. Mills raced to the scene and found his friend and colleague, a scene he said he cannot erase from his mind. Sgt. Mills described Master Deputy Collins as kind, funny, humble, inquisitive, and taking his professional responsibilities seriously. Master Deputy Brandon Collin's name is etched into the Kansas Law Enforcement Memorial in Topeka and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. Sgt. Mills said he thinks it would be very appropriate to name a part of U.S. 69 after Master Deputy Collins.
There was no opponent nor neutral testimony.
The hearing was closed.
