Topic: County Attorney
Interview of Robert (Bob) Frey, August 2, 2019
Interviewed by Jim McLean
Robert Frey had considerable impact on the legal system after he arrived in 1975. Court unification had passed as a constitutional amendment; now the legislature had to implement it. Early in his legislative career Frey took on some controversial issues, such as the hearings he held in the House Judiciary committee on the Posse Comitatus to ban paramilitary training and legislation ensuring every county had a judge. This interview does not deal with the plethora of issues which originated in the House Judiciary committee under Frey's leadership, such as codification of the sexual crimes including marital rape, Show Morebut it does reveal his philosophy about the law, the courts and judges. The interview also provides a glimpse into the rise of the conservative influence from a group know as "the Cowboys." The interview concludes with a discussion of activities on the Board of Tax Appeals. Show Less
Interview of Ronald Wurtz, April 18, 2023
Interviewed by Nancy Parrish
As he tells it in this oral history interview, Ron Wurtz always wanted to be a lawyer. He chose Washburn University because they had a law school and a ROTC program. He interned with Shawnee County District Attorney Gene Olander as a law student, and after four years as an Air Force Judge Advocate, he returned to work as an Assistant District Attorney in Topeka before becoming a state public defender in 1979. Wurtz's interview covers -- the death penalty, to which he has always opposed, and sentencing guidelines, which he originally supported and later opposed. He discusses Show Moreseveral of the cases he worked on. More recently, he has worked on the Expungement Project and at the time of this interview, taught at the Washburn University Law Clinic. Occasionally he has also served as a judge pro tem. Show Less
Interview of Carla Stovall Steckline, April 28, 2026
Interviewed by Dale Goter
This interview of former Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall Steckline highlights the importance of her two terms in office as the first and only woman elected Attorney General in Kansas. She has a fascinating story, starting as the county attorney in Crawford County where Pittsburg is located. The county attorney told her "Crawford County juries are not ready for women in the courtroom yet." So she ran against him and defeated him. What she found was "so much child sexual abuse there that I would never have imagined existed." Governor Hayden appointed her to the Show Morestate Parole Board and she became more visible in Republican politics while learning about the problems with sexually violent predators. Former Attorney General Bob Stephan noticed her and she had lots of interaction with his office. When Stephan announced his retirement, he backed Stovall for the AG position. During the campaign a young college student at Pittsburg State was murdered violently and became a campaign issue. Stovall proposed the Sexuallly Violent Predator Law that became the biggest issue in her campaign. After the election, several other heinous crimes occurred which propelled the proposed law into the public arena. Stovall ended up defending the law at the U.S. Supreme Court. (See End Notes to the transcript for her explanation of that court process.) During her second term she was pursuing litigation against the tobacco companies. She won $1.6 billion dollars from the tobacco companies and the legislature dedicated that money to children's programs and set up the Children's Cabinet to administer the fund. She was also involved with water legislation about the Colorado River. At the end of her two terms, she was persuaded to run for Governor, but ended up withdrawing from the race because her heart wasn't in it. She met and married Larry Steckline and left the political work behind, although she started a charity to help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault which she operates today. Show Less