Kobach names former Wichita judge as Kansas’ next solicitor general

Kansas’ incoming Attorney General Kris Kobach has named Anthony J. Powell, a recently retired Kansas Court of Appeals judge, to be the state’s next solicitor general.

Powell, of Wichita, retired in June from the appeals court, where he had served since 2013. He previously spent 11 years as a Sedgwick County district judge, and served four terms in the Kansas House of Representatives while he was in private practice.

As solicitor general, Powell will represent the state in civil and criminal appeals.

“Judge Powell has earned great respect in the Kansas legal community,” Kobach said in a Monday news release announcing the appointment. “As a former judge himself, he knows how to effectively defend the rights of Kansans in state and federal courts. He will be a formidable litigator for the state of Kansas.”

As an appeals court judge, Powell heard more than 2,000 cases and wrote 672 opinions, the AP reported.

“I’m honored to join our new attorney general’s leadership team and look forward to maintaining the same skilled professionalism from the solicitor’s office that I witnessed firsthand as a judge on the Kansas Court of Appeals,” Powell said in the release. “I intend to advance sound legal arguments to the court and aggressively advocate for the people of Kansas as Solicitor General.”

Last week, Kobach tapped Tony Mattivi, his 2022 primary rival and a longtime federal prosecutor, to lead the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.