SUBMITTED

The City Attorney for the city of Hays, John T. Bird, partner in the law firm of Glassman, Bird, Brown & Powell, announced today that he has selected Chris Lyon to serve as the Hays Municipal Court Prosecutor, effective Thursday, Sept. 1.

“Since Tom Toepfer became a District Judge, the Municipal Prosecutor has been a member of our law firm. Glenn Braun, now a District Judge, served as our Prosecutor until he was appointed to the Bench and most recently Curtis Brown has been prosecuting the cases in Hays Municipal Court. The caseload has grown and when Chris Lyon became available to do prosecution in Municipal Court it was obvious that it presented a mutual opportunity,” Bird said.

“Chris has been a fulltime prosecutor with the Ellis County Attorney and has done a very good job there. He ran for Trego County Attorney and was selected by the voters there in the Primary and has no opposition in the General. Chris currently works with many of the same law enforcement officers who are the primary witnesses in Hays Municipal Court.

“Chris has arranged to devote fewer hours to the Ellis County position, with the consent of the County Attorney, and he will be able to use the logistical advantages of being in the same office complex as the City of Hays Police Department and the Municipal Courtroom, which has been re-opened in the remodeled Courthouse, to work closely with the Hays Police Department.

“After consulting with the Hays City Manager and the Hays Police Department, I believe that having Chris Lyon handle our prosecutions in Municipal Court will be very workable and make the Court even more accessible to both the prosecution witnesses, third-party witnesses, and just as importantly, to the defendants and their attorneys,” Bird said.

“Because of the high degree of professionalism by local law enforcement, the percentage of contested tickets in Hays is one of the lowest in the “state and we have been proud to have maintained that over the past four City Prosecutors’ tenure. Chris Lyon will be able to continue the policies and competence which have helped achieve that.”

Lyon, a graduate of Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, served two tours of duty in Iraq as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army. He served his first Iraq tour with the First Infantry Division and the second with the First Cavalry Division. His duties there included company intelligence, patrolling and information gathering for threat assessments and risk briefings. He is the recipient of many medals and commendations. He left the Army to attend law school, where he worked in the Washburn Law Clinic, serving low-income citizens in pro bono matters and then worked in the Shawnee County District Attorney’s office, assisting with high-profile felony cases. Through extraordinary diligence he was able to complete what is normally a three year curriculum and degree in two years. He was hired by the Ellis County Attorney’s office before he graduated and has worked there since, handling complex drug and forfeiture cases primarily.

Chris Lyon is 41 years old, a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. He and his wife, Emily, and their two children, Peter and Helen, live in Hays.

“This will be a seamless transition for the Municipal Court system and the Hays citizens who use it. Although the Municipal Court hears misdemeanor cases only, they are important to maintaining consistent and fair justice and I am happy to have been presented with the opportunity to keep it professional and, we hope, even more efficient and accessible,” Lyon said.

“I fully understand the role of prosecutor, with a duty to the victims of crime, to the witnesses involved, to the Court and most importantly to the public, including the defendants. I know that after the law enforcement personnel do their job I have the duty to view the case from all points of view. I will be fair, firm and consistent in my decisions, continuing the present policies and looking for ways to make the system function even better,” Lyon added.