Gov. Sam Brownback announces Phyllis Gilmore, left, as his choice to lead SRS.
TOPEKA — Gov. Sam Brownback today announced he has picked former Johnson County legislator Phyllis Gilmore to serve as secretary of the Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services.
Gilmore has been executive director of the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulator Board, which licenses and regulates mental health professionals, for more than 11 years. She is also a licensed social worker, Brownback’s administration said. The Senate Confirmation Oversight Committee will debate whether to recommend the appointment to the full Senate, which will probably vote on Gilmore’s appointment within about a month.
The move comes about a month and a half after embattled former SRS Secretary Rob Siedlecki announced he would step down to return to Florida. Wichitan Jeff Kahrs has been serving as acting director since Siedlecki left.
Gilmore said she has no plans to undo any of the policy changes made by Siedlecki, including a move that cut off U.S. citizen children of illegal immigrants from food stamps.
Gilmore served as a House Republican lawmaker from 1995 to 2000.
In 1998, Gilmore introduced a bill to allow covenant marriages, which make getting a divorce more difficult.
Gilmore donated a kidney to her sister in the early 1980s.
Brownback plans to reorganize several agencies, folding SRS into a new agency called the Department for Children and Families.