Faculty
Shannon Wilson
Shannon R. Wilson graduated Washburn University School of Law. She began her career as a prosecutor in 2004. She is currently a Chief Attorney of the Criminal Trial Division. She supervises six trial attorneys and maintains a caseload of high level felonies in the areas of child sexual/physical abuse, domestic violence and homicide. She has tried more than 65 jury trials, at least 10 of which were homicides and hundreds of bench trials. Ms. Wilson completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Friends University. She holds a Master of Administration of Justice from Wichita State University. Ms. Wilson is a member of the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association (KCDAA), the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA) and the Wichita Bar Association. She is currently the chairperson of the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association (KCDAA). She is also chairperson of the Criminal Practice Committee of the Wichita Bar Association.
Marc Bennett
Before his election to the position of District Attorney, Marc Bennett was a Deputy District Attorney and served in the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office for 15 years where he supervised the prosecution of sex crimes, human trafficking, domestic violence and elder abuse. Mr. Bennett attended Kansas State University and Washburn University School of Law. Mr. Bennett is a member of several boards of directors including the Exploited and Missing Child Unit (EMCU); the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Coalition; the Sedgwick County Child Advocacy Center; and the National District Attorneys Association. He was the chair of the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission (2019-2021). He is a former president of the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association and was named Kansas Prosecutor of the Year by that organization in 2018. He is an appointee to the Kansas Prosecutor’s Grievance and Ethics Committee. He was named Criminal Justice Professional of the Year in 2022 by the Wichita Metro Crime Commission. Mr. Bennett has made presentations to the Kansas Legislature; the National Advocacy Center in South Carolina; the FBI Annual C.O.D.I.S. symposium in Washington, D.C.; the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center; the Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas; the Attorney General’s Crimes Against Children Conference, Cheyenne, Wyoming; and the US Attorney’s Crimes Against Children Conference, Wichita, Kansas. He has tried over 150 jury trials, including 28 murder cases.
Kimberly Rodebaugh
Began her legal career as a prosecutor in 1992 at the Lyon County Attorney’s Office. She then prosecuted in the 18th Judicial District as a Sedgwick County Assistant District Attorney. After prosecuting in that office, she accepted a position as the Senior Legal Instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center where she trained thousands of new officers from around the state. After teaching for many years, she was offered a job with the United States Attorney’s Office in Wichita and served as an Assistant United States Attorney. She left the United States Attorney’s Office after a few years to be closer to home to care for her aging parents in Reno County. She currently serves as a Senior Assistant District Attorney. Over her career, she has prosecuted over 60 jury trials ranging from white-collar crimes, drug distributions, sex crime prosecutions, and homicide.
Chris McMullin
Chris McMullin is the Chief Deputy District Attorney for the 10th Judicial District of Kansas in Johnson County. He has been a prosecutor for over 32 years, and has handled every type of case, from dog-bite to capital murder. He is a frequent lecturer for KCDAA and other legal and law enforcement organizations. He was a faculty member for the inaugural KCDAA Trial Advocacy School in 2023.
Kevin O'Connor
In 2022, Kevin O’Connor retired as a district court judge and returned to the field of prosecution as an Assistant District Attorney in Johnson County. O’Connor was appointed by the Governor to fill a judicial vacancy in the 18th Judicial District, Wichita, Sedgwick County in 2015. O’Connor brought extensive litigation experience to the bench. O’Connor was the presiding judge of the criminal division when he retired.
O’Connor has been a prosecutor for nearly 25 years. O’Connor’s career started as an Assistant District Attorney in Wichita. In that position, O’Connor handled numerous high-profile murder cases and was responsible for prosecuting the most serious and complex criminal litigation in the State including State v. Michael Marsh (the first death penalty case in Sedgwick County), State v Dennis Rader (BTK), State v Reginald and Jonathan Carr, State v Theodore Burnett and Elgin Robinson (Chelsea Brooks murder case) and many, many other cases which have resulted in published appellate opinions. O’Connor supervised the trial division and resigned as Deputy District Attorney after 17 years of service. O’Connor served as a Special Prosecutor for the Butler County Attorney after leaving the District Attorney’s Office. O’Connor was also a Special Assistant Attorney General for Attorney General Derek Schmidt and traveled the State prosecuting high level criminal cases, including State v. Adam Longoria, a capital murder trial in Great Bend. O’Connor also served as the chief of the sex crimes unit in the Johnson County District Attorney’s office.
O’Connor was named by his peers as Kansas Prosecutor of the Year in 2004. O’Connor’s experience includes the position of Trial Attorney with the United States Department of Justice, Criminal Division, Terrorism & Violent Crimes Section, Capital Litigation Unit. O’Connor’s responsibilities with the Department of Justice included advising the Attorney General of the United States on matters concerning federal death penalty prosecutions and assisting United States Attorneys with all aspects of Capital Litigation. O’Connor worked under Attorney General John Ashcroft while with the Department of Justice.
O’Connor earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of Kansas and a law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law.
O’Connor and his wife, Jennifer, are the proud parents of four children, Jameson, Quinn, Hunter, & Blayne. Jameson is an Assistant District Attorney in Johnson County.
Number of years -31
Jury Trials – 113
Robert Short
Robert Short joined the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office in 2004 and was promoted to chief attorney in 2012. He has tried more than a 100 jury trials, and has specialized experience/training in the areas of arson, fatal accidents, contractor fraud, embezzlement, elder abuse and violent crime. He tried four homicide cases to verdict in 2023 and currently has more than a dozen pending homicide cases assigned to him.
Tom Weilert
After graduating from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1975, Mr. Weilert became a prosecutor for the City of Wichita and then an Assistant District Attorney in Sedgwick County. In 1980 he entered private practice where he handled criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He also argued before the United States Supreme Court in Kansas v. Hendricks, the first case testing sexually violent predator statutes. He returned to prosecution in 1999 where he served as a trial mentor while prosecuting homicides, crimes against persons and vehicular deaths. Mr. Weilert joined the National College of District Attorneys in January, 2005. In addition to his duties as an assistant Director of Programs, he also served as the Assistant Director of the National Center for Prosecution Ethics. In 2010, Mr. Weilert returned to Sedgwick County as a Chief Assistant District Attorney. He retired from that position in 2018.