Topic: Crime Victims
Interview of Bob Stephan, October 21, 2020
Interviewed by Michael (Mike) Matson
Former Attorney General Robert T. Stephan, in this 2020 oral history interview, recalls the highlights of his years serving the State of Kansas as Attorney General (1979 to 1995). Stephan's career as a champion of children as well as victims of crime and discrimination was shaped by his upbringing in Wichita and his strong sense of what it right. Stephan laments the increasingly partisan atmosphere of the National Association of Attorneys General, an organization to which he belonged during his time in state service.
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 Frank Henderson, May 21, 2025
Interviewed by Mark Tallman
At the time when a group of high school students discovered that Fred Seaman, the namesake of Unified School District 345 was the Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's, Frank Henderson was President of the Seaman School Board. In this oral history interview, he describes the process the board went through to investigate and analyze the students' recommendations to change the district name. At the end of the process, the name remained, but Fred Seaman's photo and memorabilia were removed from the school buildings and placed in the museum. He said the outcome didn't Show Moresatisfy anyone but it was unanimous. Henderson described many challenging situations at the local, state and national levels as he served on various state and national boards of education. Henderson's observations highlights major issues in education that affected school boards and local communities. The interview reflects Henderson's view that "Every Student Matters." He believes, "we, as fellow humans, have the responsibility to see the value in every person and do what we can to ...help that person fulfill their potential." Show Less
Interview of Carla Stovall-Steckline, May 4, 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