States Attorney.

Duston J. Slinkard

Duston J. Slinkard State's Attorney for the District of Kansas

Duston J. Slinkard is the State's Attorney for the District of Kansas

The newly appointed interim Top Federal Prosecutor for the District of Kansas has served over a decade in the Office. Duston J. Slinkard is replacing the outgoing U.S. Attorney Stephen R. McAllister as the Acting United States Attorney by virtue of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. McAllister is stepping down as a result of the request of the Biden Administration, delivered by Acting U.S. Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson on February 9, 2021. The remaining 55 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys have been requested to vacate their posts by the end of February 28, 2021, which resulted in the mass resignation of the U.S. Attorneys. Duston Slinkard will assume the position of Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official in the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas on March 1, 2021.

 

Appointment

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Duston J. Slinkard is taking over in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas as the new interim Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official by virtue of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, as a result of the stepping down of the outgoing U.S. Attorney Stephen R. McAllister. The changes in the Office have been catalyzed by the request of the Biden Administration for all of the remaining 55 Trump-appointed U.S. Attorneys to resign from the position by the end of February 28, 2021. Acting United States Attorney General Robert M. Wilkinson delivered the request of President Joe Biden during an announcement he made on February 9, 2021, as it is customary in the course of transition in the administration. Duston Slinkard shall begin to perform duties as Top Federal Prosecutor on March 1, 2021. Slinkard is expected to serve in the capacity for up to 300 days, or until such time, a new U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas has been presidentially appointed and confirmed.

 

Educational Background, Bar Admission, and Judicial Clerkship

The Acting United States Attorney Slinkard earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from The University of Kansas in 1995. He subsequently received his Juris Doctorate from the Washburn University School of Law in 2003. U.S. Attorney Slinkard launched his legal career by joining the Office of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable K. Gary Sebelius, United States Magistrate Judge. Duston Slinkard worked full time in the U.S. District Court for a little over three years, from August of 2003 to August 2006. Acting U.S. Attorney Slinkard has been authorized to practice law in the State of Kansas since the year 2003.

 

Legal Career

In December of 2006, U.S. Attorney Slinkard began working as an Assistant Revisor of Statutes in the Kansas Revisor of Statutes, staying in the position until November the following year. In this capacity, Slinkard provided legislative and administrative rule drafting, as well as advice, research, and review, among other related legal services to law enforcement officials such as legislators, legislative staff, and other constitutional officers. Furthermore, as an Assistant Revisor of Statues, he had the objective of providing legal-editing services for the Kansas Statues, Laws, and Rules. Later on, U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard joined the Shawnee County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney, serving in the position for ten months prior to becoming a part of the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas in August of 2008.

Duston Slinkard was initially appointed in the Office as a Special Assistant United States Attorney until he was promoted to being an Assistant U.S. Attorney in July of 2012. His first stint in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas lasted for over five years. It ended as U.S. Attorney Slinkard decided to move out of the Office and join the Office of the Kansas Attorney Disciplinary Administrator as a Deputy Disciplinary Administrator in November of 2013. After approximately 11 months in the Attorney Disciplinary Administrator’s Office, U.S. Attorney Slinkard returned to the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas. For almost four years, from September of 2014 to February of 2018, U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard held a leadership role and was Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney. Around the same time, Slinkard was also performing tasks as Topeka Office Criminal Coordinator. In the succeeding years, U.S. Attorney Slinkard was appointed in even more leadership positions in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas. In February of 2018, he became Chief of the Criminal Division, wherein he was primarily responsible for managing and overseeing the prosecution of federal crimes in the United States District Court. Acting U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard served as Chief until March of 2019. In between those years, upon the official appointment of U.S. Attorney Stephen R. McAllister, Slinkard was also appointed as the First Assistant U.S. Attorney. He began serving as second-in-command in the Office in August of 2018 and has served the district well in collaboration with former U.S. Attorney McAllister.

 

Accomplishments With U.S. Attorney McAllister

Throughout their approximately three years of being in tandem, now Acting U.S. Attorney Slinkard and former U.S. Attorney McAllister has accomplished numerous things for the district, including the shift in emphasis of federal and local law enforcement cooperation to violent crime, as the district welcomed the support provided by substantial new resources and programs. Among the projects established during their tenure was the Public Safety Partnership program in Wichita, the Crime Gun Intelligence Center at Wichita State University, and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Strike Force in the Kansas City metro region. This initiative allows numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to be brought together to one location and conduct investigations that extend even through the United States’ borders.

In line with the shift in focus of the United States Attorney’s Office to violent crime was the prosecution of several high-profile cases, including the conviction of three men who have created a scheme to blow up an apartment complex in Garden City, targeting the Somali, Muslim immigrants who were residents of the apartment at the time; the December 2017 case of the fatal shooting of an innocent man due to a hoax call to Wichita emergency authorities; and the prosecution of a Wichita doctor who has been involved in the prescription of opioids to individuals known to be addicted to opioids, which ultimately led to the overdose and death at least one of the individuals.

 

Teaching Background and Other Memberships

Despite being an active prosecutor and leader in the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, Acting U.S. Attorney Slinkard remains committed to teaching and is serving as an Adjunct Faculty in his alma matter – the Washburn University School of Law. By dedicating a part of his time to teaching, Slinkard allows the curriculum of Washburn to strengthen further, as area practitioners with expert knowledge and experience in specialized areas extend their skills and expertise, just as he does. Slinkard is to teach Pre-trial Advocacy-Civil in the Fall of 2020 and the Spring of 2021. United States Attorney Slinkard is also in the Membership Roster of The Sam A. Crow American Inn of Court and the Topeka Bar Association.

 

Office Jurisdiction

U.S. Attorney Duston Slinkard has dedicated almost 13 years of his legal career to serving the Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Kansas. He has recently been appointed as the interim Chief Federal Law Enforcement Official for the district. He is responsible for overseeing a staff of approximately 102 employees, consisting of 49 talented Assistant U.S. Attorneys and 53 support personnel. The Office has jurisdiction over all of the 105 counties of the State of Kansas and is serving a population of approximately 2.8 million. Moreover, Top Federal Prosecutor Slinkard handles the prosecution of all federal violations across the three branch offices associated with the federal courts in the City of Kansas, Topeka, and Wichita.

 

Contact Details

Full Name: Duston J. Slinkard
District/State: Kansas
Public email ID: duston.slinkard@usdoj.gov

Kansas City Office

500 State Avenue
Suite 360
Kansas City, Kansas 66101

(913) 551-6730
Main
(913) 551-6541
Fax

Topeka Branch Office

444 S.E. Quincy
Suite 290
Topeka, Kansas 66683

(785) 295-2850
Main
(785) 295-2853
Fax

Wichita Branch Office

1200 Epic Center
301 N. Main
Wichita, Kansas 67202

(316) 269-6481
Main
(316) 269-6484
Fax

Public Information Officer

Scott Nace

500 State Ave
Suite 360
Kansas City, KS 66101

(913) 551-6730
Main

Civil Rights Hotline

1-855-321-5549
Main

 

Social Media Links of Duston Slinkard

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Username: U.S. Attorney Kansas
Tag: @USAO_Kansas

 

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Updated: April 4, 2021

 

 

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