Topic: gun rights
Interview of Ronald Wurtz, April 18, 2023
Interviewed by Nancy Parrish
Ron Wurtz always wanted to be a lawyer. He chose Washburn University because they had a law school and a ROTC program. He had interned with District Attorney Gene Olander as a law student, and after 4 years as an Air Force JAG, he returned to work as an assistant district attorney in Topeka before becoming a public defender in 1979. Wurtz's interview covers several interesting topics--the death penalty, which he has always opposed, and sentencing guidelines, which he originally supported and later opposed. He discusses several of the cases he had. More recently, he has worked on Show Morethe Expungement Project and now teaches at the Washburn University Law Clinic. Occasionally he has also served as a pro tem judge. Show Less
Interview of Richard Carlson, February 9, 2024
Interviewed by Chris Courtwright
Richard Carlson held several important positions in Kansas government --Secretary of Transportation, Chair of the House Taxation Committee, County Commissioner of Pottawatomie County--in addition to being a farmer/cattleman, banker, businessman. In his interview he speaks candidly about his efforts as Tax Chairman to pass and implement Governor Brownback's tax plan of 2012. He acknowledges the plan as finally passed was "unsustainable." In 2016 Governor Brownback appointed Carlson as Secretary of Transportation. His 2-3 years as head of that agency saw a lot of progress in implementing various transportation projects around the state.