Speakers
Robert Anderson
Robert A. Anderson, Jr. is a former defense lawyer turned prosecutor, serving as the current Ellis County Attorney (January 11, 2021 – January 13, 2025). Robert is married to his high-school sweetheart and best friend, Abby Anderson. When he’s not hard at work for the people of Ellis County, Robert enjoys playing golf and traveling with his wife. During his time as the Ellis County Attorney, Robert has made it his mission to respond to the public safety needs of the community by leading an effective, well-coordinated law enforcement effort that contributes to the overall goal of improving the quality of life in Ellis County; to inspire confidence and public support of law enforcement; to seek truth and administer justice; and to promote the fair and impartial administration of justice, adhering to the highest ethical, professional, and performance standards.
Chris Garcia
Chris Garcia has practiced law in the Wichita area since 1995, spending most of his career doing appointed criminal defense work. He was the defense attorney for the Sedgwick County Drug Court from 2013-21, representing hundreds of clients on probation for drug-related felony offenses. From 2009-21, Mr. Garcia chaired the Wichita Bar Association’s Lawyers Assistance Committee, a group of lawyers helping other lawyers struggling with substance abuse, addiction, depression, and aging issues. Since 2020, he has served as a Board member for KALAP [Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program]. He speaks to law firms and other groups about the importance of prioritizing self-care in the practice of law. In 2021, Mr. Garcia took a two-year sabbatical, and in 2023 he joined the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office as an Assistant District Attorney in the Consumer Protection Division. .
Natalie Chalmers
Natalie Chalmers graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 2007. Since that time, her focus has been appellate criminal law. She began as a Central Staff Research Attorney for the Kansas Court of Appeals, and then worked as an Assistant District Attorney for the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office. She has worked as an Assistant Solicitor General for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office since 2011.
Todd Thompson
Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson is a Leavenworth native. His family has lived in the community for over 160 years. Todd is a graduate from the University of Kansas and received his Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law. Before being elected, Todd was an Assistant County Attorney for Leavenworth County for a period of five years and has been in office since 2009. Todd is a past president of the Kansas County and District Attorney’s Association. He has chaired the legislative committee for KCDAA and has been a member of the Best Practice’s Committee. As legislative chair, Todd has presented numerous times to both the Kansas House and Senate. Todd has successfully push multiple pieces of our legislation into law. Also, Todd has testified in U.S. Congress to protect the safety of citizens in Leavenworth and the neighboring counties. Todd has also chaired Kansas CLE commission; sat on Pretrial Justice Reform Taskforce; Kansas Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being; and the KBA’s CLE committee. Todd sits on multiple boards in his own county as well.
John Grube
John is the Director of Research for the Commission. In his current capacity as the Director of Research, his duties include serving as the database manager for the research department and author of the agency’s annual report. He also produces adult prison population and adult custody classification projections, as well as policy impact assessments. John earned a Master of Science in Criminology from Oklahoma City University in 2008. Obtaining his Juris Doctorate degree from Washburn University School of Law in 2012, John is also a licensed attorney. John recently completed his Ph.D. in the Sociology/Criminology program at Kansas State University. He previously served as an assistant district attorney in Wyandotte County, Kansas and worked as an appellate attorney for the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Service (BIDS). Prior to law school, John worked as a police officer for the Kansas City Kansas Police Department.
Matt Maloney
Matt Maloney is a Senior Assistant District Attorney in the appellate division of the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. He is a 2001 graduate of the University of Kansas School of Law, and began his career in the appellate division in Sedgwick County in 2002. Matt has argued hundreds of cases to the Kansas appellate courts, and has authored approximately 1,000 appellate briefs. In his spare time, Matt coaches youth baseball, serves as a mentor at his alma mater (Wichita Collegiate School), runs with his two dogs, and cheers for numerous college and pro teams that never win championships. He is always looking for good ping pong opponents.
Kristi Allen
Kristi Allen is a senior district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, and has been employed as a prosecutor for 13 years. She has spent the last three years in the Appeals Division, and before that spent 10 years in the Child in Need of Care Division. Kristi has written over 75 briefs and recently had her first oral argument before the Kansas Court of Appeals. She graduated law school from the University of Tulsa in May of 2011.
Will Hurst
Will Hurst is a lifelong Kansas who has been prosecuting since 2007. He graduated from Fort Hays State University in 2004 and the law school located in Lawrence in 2006. Will served as an Assistant County Attorney in Franklin County from 2007 until 2011. Since 2011, Will has served an Assistant District Attorney in Johnson County. Will’s current responsibilities include leading the Domestic Violence Unit. Will and his wife Tracie live in Olathe with their two daughters, Hazel and Haddie.
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
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.
Danielle Hall
Danielle Hall currently serves as the Chief of Professionalism and Outreach with the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration. She has previously served as the Executive Director of the Kansas Lawyers Assistance Program and as a Deputy Disciplinary Administrator with the Kansas Office of the Disciplinary Administrator. Much of her career has been dedicated to improving the practice of law and service to the public by tackling issues surrounding the connection between well-being, law practice management, and ethics and professionalism in the profession. She uses her background in these areas to focus on education and outreach for judges, attorneys, law students, and judicial employees. Danielle regularly teaches continuing legal education on many topics including lawyer well-being, ethics, law practice management, and technology use in the law office. She currently serves as President-Elect for the Institute for Well-Being in Law and is active member of many statewide and local bar associations, serving on committees and boards. Danielle is also an active in the American Bar Association severing on several Law Practice Division committees and is a regular presenter at the ABA TECHSHOW and is also a regular contributor to the Product Watch column in the ABA Law Practice Magazine. In her free time, Danielle also serves an adjunct professor at her alma mater, Washburn University School of Law, where she teaches a law practice management course.
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.