Cannot create KB articles in Desk Sandbox

Cannot create KB articles in Desk Sandbox

I would like to test some knowledge base help center organization in the sandbox test environment. I can not add any articles because I cannot add any categories nor publish any articles in sandbox mode. When I attempt to create a category I get a notice "The selected primary department is inactive. Ensure to choose an active department while associating it with the category." However, all my sandbox departments are active, but the dropdown to select a department for the dropdown is blank. What's going on?