Judge Stacey Donovan

Judge Stacey Donovan was appointed as a District Court Judge for Douglas County in 2020. During the first three years she was on the bench, she handled misdemeanor and felony criminal cases, limited civil actions and Child in Need of Care cases. Since January of 2023, she has presided over felony criminal cases and conflict CINC cases. In 2024, Chief Justice Marla Luckert selected her to serve on the Sentencing Commission in her judicial capacity, where she is currently the Vice Chair. She has been an adjunct professor of Trial Advocacy since 2008.

After graduating from KU Law in 1997, she began her legal career at the Third Judicial District Public Defender Office in Topeka as a trial attorney representing adults charged with felony crimes.  She became the Chief Public Defender of that office in 2011 where she served until 2020 when she left practice to take the bench. During her time as an attorney, she was a member of the Women Attorney Association of Topeka, Topeka Bar Association, Topeka Criminal Defense Bar and Topeka Lawyers’ Club. She served as the 2nd District governor of the Kansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, as a member and chair of the Shawnee County Jail Public Relations Board, and was an inaugural member of the Supreme Court Kansas Task Force for Lawyer Well-Being. In 2015, she was appointed by the Governor to serve as the Public Defender member of the Kansas Sentencing Commission where she served until taking the bench in 2020.