Robert Taft Stephan (January 16, 1933 – January 2, 2023) was an American attorney who served four terms as

Kansas Attorney General The attorney general of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of ...

. Stephan was born on January 16, 1933, to Taft and Julia Stephan, of Lebanese descent. He graduated from

Washburn University School of Law The Washburn University School of Law is a public law school located on the main campus of Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Washburn Law was founded in 1903. The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and has been a member of t ...

in 1957 and practiced law in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

. After losing a campaign for local school board, he was appointed a municipal court judge and two years later elected to the

district court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

in Wichita. He first won election as state Attorney General in 1978 and was reelected three times in 1982, 1986, and 1990. Following the end of his last term, Stephan moved to

Lenexa, Kansas Lenexa is a city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,434. making it the ninth-most populated city in Kansas. It is bordered by the ...

, and worked as a consultant in

corporate law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...

dealing in

consumer protection Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

and

Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...

regulations. In 2007, Stephan spoke in support of legalizing

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to cannabis products and cannabinoid molecules that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has a long history, but has not ...

in Kansas. Stephan died on January 2, 2023, two weeks shy of his 90th birthday.Robert Stephan, former longtime Kansas attorney general, dies at 89
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References

1933 births 2023 deaths American politicians of Lebanese descent Kansas attorneys general Kansas Republicans Kansas state court judges Municipal judges in the United States People from Lenexa, Kansas Politicians from Wichita, Kansas Washburn University alumni 20th-century Kansas politicians {{Kansas-politician-stub