Due to the ongoing pandemic, the requirement to maintain an Emergency Manager certification has been waived until January 1, 2023. A county that was never in the Kansas EMPG grant program or a county that formerly was in EMPG but dropped out in the past and now wants back in are both categorized for our purposes as "New Starts". A New Start county would have to have their Emergency Manager (EM) meet all of the Kansas state statute requirements for Emergency Management (KAR 56-2-2), which would include being a currently certified EM. In Kansas, the 2 recognized certification programs are the KCEM obtained through the Kansas Emergency Management Association (KEMA), or the CEM obtained through the IAEM (international certification).
For counties that are already in the EMPG program, a new EM has 2 years to get certified, or an existing EM has to keep their certification current. Again, that is not a FEMA EMPG grant requirement, but rather is required by Kansas statute, so it is expected of all 105 county emergency managers, not just the approximately 68 that receive EMPG funding.