NEWS RELEASE: March 11, 2008
FROM: The Kansas Highway Patrol
CONTACT: TechTRP Edna Buttler (785)296-6800
Cait Purinton-Day (785) 296-6800
Cornelius Promoted to Sergeant
Colonel Terry Maple, Superintendent of the Kansas Highway Patrol, has announced that Capitol Police Officer Janita K. Cornelius was promoted to sergeant on February 24, 2008.
Cornelius joined the State of Kansas on October 2, 1985, as a Motor Carrier Inspector (MCI) II with the Kansas Department of Revenue. In 1988, the MCI program was transferred from the Department of Revenue to the Kansas Highway Patrol. Cornelius was promoted to MCI III in 1991 and served a supervisor for the mobile MCIs in Topeka. In 1997, Cornelius joined the Capitol Police as a law enforcement officer in Topeka. She transferred from road patrol duties to providing safety and security at Cedar Crest, the Governor's residence. Cornelius was promoted to Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) II in 2005 and continued service at Cedar Crest. With her recent promotion to LEO III, Cornelius will be a sergeant in Capitol Police operations at Cedar Crest and the state Memorial Building. As a member of the Patrol, Cornelius has been a women's self defense instructor since 1998. She also served at the Capitol Police Union president from 1998 to 2000.
Cornelius is a graduate of Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas. She studied criminal justice and law enforcement at Washburn University. Prior to joining the Patrol, Cornelius was a park ranger with the Topeka Parks and Recreation Department. She was a lake patrol officer and park ranger from 1984 to 1994, and she was a Shawnee County reserve deputy from 1984 to 1991.