Compiled by Cristina Janney/Hays Post
Age: 33
Occupation:
I am a private attorney. Because we do not have a public defender's office out her in western Kansas, I act as a quasi-public defender. Like many other private practicing attorneys in the area, I take on court-appointed criminal defense clients who are indigent. I also handle misdemeanor and traffic defense, juvenile offender, care and treatment and child in need of care cases. These are all the types of cases that are filed by the Ellis County Attorney's Office.
Date passed the Kansas bar: 2015
Community involvement: Well, for starters, my wife and I live here. I am a member of the Smoky Hill Country Club. I have a history of involvement with the Boy Scouts. I was actually the first Eagle Scout in Ellinwood, (my hometown) in over 30 years. As an adult, I served as an assistant Scout Master.
Throughout my career I have devoted myself t0 serving the community through my practice. I primarily take on court-appointed criminal defense work for indigent clients and I try to complete as much pro bono work as my budget allows. This year alone I have already amassed 40-hours of pro bono service to community members.
Why did you choose to run for the Ellis County Attorney?
I'm not sure I would have ever decided to run if it wasn't for the support and encouragement of my opponent, Chris Lyon. In a nutshell, Chris told me he needed to withdraw from the race and pleaded with me to run because if I didn't run, he was afraid of who might run. The wrong person in that office would have devastating and lasting consequences.
Mr. Lyon's idea of who the wrong person would be almost certainly differed from my opinion, nevertheless, part of my decision to run was based on the idea that I must protect this county and the legal community from the wrong person.
When Mr. Lyon got back into the race, it was surreal because I then felt like I had to protect Ellis County and the legal community from him. From my perspective, his reasons for getting back in the race has nothing to do with serving the community and everything to do with a personal vendetta. This at least as I see it is evidenced by the fact he has sold his home here, moving to Kansas City (even though he claims he is looking for a home "in the area" and that he is unwilling to commit to this job full-time. He used language like "I will commit all the time necessary." He won't say "full time" because he can't. Not without giving up his other jobs. This is not a part-time job. It is too important. The wrong person in this position will have severe and lasting consequences.
That's why I am running. Because I am the right person for this job.
A big part of what I do is work for indigent clients. These are criminal defendants who can't afford an attorney. In that capacity and my capacity as an attorney for children in need of care cases and guardian ad litem for children I get to do a lot of good. I get to help a lot of people. There are an incredible number of instances where I am disappointed and hurt and this job just sucks because people don't get their act together and you put in all of this work for them and they just disappoint you. But there are a lot of opportunities where you really get to change people's lives, and it is very rewarding.
The capacity to do that level of good is exponentially greater in the office of Ellis County Attorney. As a defense attorney you worry about no innocent person going to prison. As the county attorney you have a much greater power to ensure that never happens. You have a much greater ability and reach to affect the community in a lot of different ways. Instead of working with one client, you are working with the entire community and law enforcement and mental health professionals. I love helping people. I find that very rewarding. This job seems almost the pinnacle of being able to do that.
What if any changes would you make at the County Attorney’s Office?
The big one is prioritizing violent crimes and property crimes over all other crimes because these crimes have victims from our community — real people attached to these cases, real people with real names. Whereas in a misdemeanor marijuana case, the victim in that case is the state of Kansas at large. There is no individual attached to that case.
If we are in situation we can't possibly prosecute all the cases that come through, and that is the case, then we need to find a way to triage the situation. There are more than 1,000 police reports that come to that office every single year and currently they are able to prosecute somewhere between 600 and 700 cases.
I believe that office as it currently sits, with myself swapping in for Tom Drees, we can prosecute more than 700 cases per year. I believe we can do that by retooling the diversion policy. I believe we can do that by giving all attorneys that work under me full autonomy.
In my experience in working as a defense attorney, I've had situations in which Tom Drees I believe has a little too much involvement in his assistant's cases — that they have to run things by him. That is not going to be the case with me. If you can't handle your case load and your job without my oversight, why are you working for me?
We are going to look at rotating case types. Currently certain attorneys over there handle certain types of cases only. I feel this is creating a situation where at least one if not more are feeling burnout, feeling bogged down. I believe new life could be breathed into the office just by rotating case types.
We are going to look at experimenting with some sort of flex type scheduling. The idea would be if you come in at 7 a.m. and work to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday, you get a half day off on Friday. These flex schedules are positive because they incentivize you to work harder in those days to get your half day off or full day off, but if you come into the office before hours or after hours, that's when you can really get stuff done.
I know a lot of people are concerned about the cost this office takes to run, and I am going to do everything I can to decrease costs. But the bottomline is when we talk about the budget, when we talk about what it takes to run that office, 95 percent of that budget is hiring and firing people.
When we talk about that, we are talking about our ability to prosecute cases. We are already behind and backlogged. I am not asking for more money, and I also am not looking to fire a bunch of people either.
Why do you think you are more qualified than your opponent?
So, this is a very important time to address one of the lies out there. My opponent, Chris Lyon, has been campaigning on the idea or slogan and it is undoubtedly part of his answer to this question — that he is the only "experienced candidate." This of course is a bold-faced lie. Even if his slogan was "the only candidate with experience as a prosecutor" it wouldn't be true. It just doesn't help his campaign to tell the truth.
You want to talk experience? I have just as much, if not more experience. I am trained to spot the same legal issues — it does not matter which side of the courtroom I sit on. I have over five years of experience handling felony and misdemeanor case; traffic offenses, child in need of care, juvenile offender and care and treatment cases. All of which are filed by the County Attorney's Office. In that, regard, I am a Swiss Army Knife of experience.
If Mr. Lyon is so concerned with my supposed lack of experiecne, then why did he come to me and beg me to run in January? Why did he deputize me as an Assistant Trego County Attorney to handle anything that poppoed up while he was on vaction? Why did he tell me he would hire me on his staff if he won this election and that he would pay me more than his own salary, which, by the way, would make me the highest paid person in that office's history.
You want to know why Chris Lyon has had so much confidence in me in the past? Becuase of skill. I am very skilled. I am undefeated in felony jury trials — something no other attorney around can say.
BOTTOM LINE: If this job was listed online or in some classified ad, two of the listed requirements would probably read. "Must be willing to work full time." "Must live in Ellis County."
I am the only candidate who satisfies those two requirements. My opponent will tell you that he and his wife are looking for a house "in the area," but what does that mean? Is the "area" contingent upon whether or not he wins the race? Will he be living here full time or part time? Will he be selling his home in Overland Park? If it is his intent to come back soon, why did he sell his house in Hays less than 20 days ago?
Even if he does move back, without questions, he cannot commit to this job full time. He dances around the issue by saying "I can run the office from day one."and "[I have the] time I need to run the office." He never says, "I will work this job full time." Not once has he said that. He can't. Why? Because he has six other jobs and refuses to rid of any of them.
So, is Ellis County Attorney a part-time job? No. Is Mr. Lyon willing to take a cut in his salary that is directly proportionate to the time he will spend in the office?'
Again, I am this county's only full-time option for this position.
Do you hold any other positions? If so, will you continue in those positions if you are elected to the CA office?
Chris must be pressed about these issues. He must not be allowed to spin or dance around the questions.
What do you believe are the causes of the high rates of minority incarceration? What would you do to eliminate racial or gender bias in the judicial system?
This is a very interesting question. My instinct would have told me that this is not a problem here in Ellis County — that perhaps this problem exists elsewhere, but not here.
However, according to the Kansas Sentencing Commission FY 2019 Annual Report, published April 27, 2020. Ellis County sentenced 216 individuals on felony sentences. Of those 216, 174 were men and 42 were women. Out of the 216, 186 were white, 28 were black and two were classified as "other."
These numbers seem relatively benign, but if we examine the racial makeup of Ellis County and compare, we get a different picture. According to the census data found online, Ellis County is roughly 90 percent white, 5 percent Hispanic, 1 percent black and the remaining 4 percent could be classified as "other."
It would seem then blacks accounted for 12.9 percent of all felony sentencing in Ellis County while they are only 1 percent of the population.
I don't have an answer for that. Certainly not a good one.
Once police reports end up on my desk, I cannot change whether or not the suspect was a particular type.
I can tell you that my personal charging decisions and how aggressively I pursue conviction and prison will have nothing to do with race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or any other suspect class or quasi-suspect class.
Perhaps we could implement a policy in which police reports omit any identifying information that would not be relevant to making charging decisions ( I don't believe race would ever be relevant). Perhaps implementation of grand juries will also aid in reducing or eliminating racial or gender bias that may exist. We cannot impanel a grand jury to make all charging decisions on all cases. I hope to use grand juries to make charging decisions in cases of public interest. I hope to return some of the power held by this office to the people.
Have you ever been disciplined by the bar association? No
Have you ever been arrested? When and on what charges? What was the outcome? No
Have you ever been the victim of a crime? How did it impact you (if at all) as an attorney?
Yes, I actually have. Back in 2007, when I was in college. I was a victim of a violent home invasion. Two of my roommates were taken to the hospital by EMS. Even though my father was an attorney in the area, I can remember not understanding the criminal justice system. I can remember how scared I was. I can remember how angry I was that these people were not being brought to justice; and that the ones who were caught were let off so easy.
This experience did not drive me to become an attorney and it was not factor in my decision to run for Ellis County Attorney. However, that experience is so incredibly valuable I've realized. I will be able to empathize with victims and have the patience to explain the process. I will hopefully be able to give them what I was not given — a sense that justice has been served — that balance has been restored.