Kirk D. Thompson
Kirk D. Thompson
(2011-2023)

Kirk D. Thompson entered law enforcement in 1976, at the age of 19, as a deputy sheriff with the Barton County Sheriff's Office. In this role he served the central Kansas community of Great Bend where he grew up. He then moved to Topeka in 1979, after joining the KBI as a special agent.

Over the course of his KBI career, Thompson served in several supervisory roles, working his way up the ranks to Assistant Director and Associate Director. Then in July of 2011, Attorney General Derek Schmidt appointed Thompson as the 12th Director of the KBI.

Thompson devoted more than a decade serving in the KBI's top post. During his tenure he enhanced every division of the Bureau. In 2012, in partnership with the FBI, the first satellite Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory in the nation was established at KBI headquarters to conduct timely analysis of digital forensic evidence. Then in 2015, the Bureau opened its Forensic Science Center, a new state-of-the art laboratory located on the campus of Washburn University. Also during his time as Director, Thompson expanded the KBI child victims unit, to include the 2018 creation of the Northeast Child Victim Task Force, focused on the investigation of major crimes against children.

In 2017, Thompson successfully advocated for additional forensic scientists to test the statewide accumulation of sexual assault kits discovered during the KBI-led Kansas Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, and to expedite future submission and testing of this valuable forensic evidence. In 2019, under Thompson, the KBI established a cyber crime unit to investigate large-scale cyber threats in Kansas. Thompson also secured multi-million dollar funding and support for major updates to several critical criminal justice systems - the Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS), the Kansas Incident Based Reporting System (KIBRS), and the Kansas Criminal Justice Information System (KCJIS).

Thompson is a graduate of Washburn University, the FBI National Academy, and the Kansas Certified Public Manager program.

On January 10, 2023, he retired after serving as KBI Director for over 11 years, and dedicating 46 years to a distinguished career in Kansas law enforcement.