The Oklahoma Department of Public Safety wants a $220-million budget for the next fiscal year. DPS Commissioner John Scully made the request today to a State House/Senate Budget Committee.
The increase would be about seven-million dollars more than the current budget for the department.
Scully told lawmakers part of the money would go for more employees at the state’s Driver’s License Bureaus. He says the most complaints he receives are about the lack of customer service at the bureaus. He implied, without attention, the problem will get worse when the state starts issuing the federally mandated Real IDs.
He also wants to increase the pay of highway patrol dispatchers and add a new cadet class for additional troopers. Scully says the OHP’s radio system is in dire need of attention. He says the antiquated system is at the “end of its life spam”.