Kansas. Adjutant General's Dept. .

The Kansas Adjutant General's Department was one of the initial cabinet level departments organized when Kansas became the 34th state on January 29, 1861. The department had previously been formed in 1855 as a territorial entity. Its purpose was to organize, equip, train and control militia companies organized in various communities across the state. Provision was made in the Constitution for the organization of a Militia, with the Governor as commander in chief. The Governor had supreme command of the military forces of the State while in the service of the State, or until they were ordered or accepted into the services of the United States. The Division of Emergency Preparedness (DEP), established as the State Civil Defense Agency in 1951, became a division of the Adjutant General's Department in 1955 and was re-designated as the Division of Emergency preparedness in 1975. The division is charged with the responsibility of providing an effective, immediate response to man made and natural disasters to prevent, minimize, and repair injury and damage. The five-member Kansas Military Disability Board, created in 1968, is appointed and serves at the pleasure of the Governor. The board determines benefits of members who are injured or die from causes suffered while on State Active Service.