Topeka ? A former Kansas education commissioner who had a rocky tenure at the state education agency has been hired by Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration as the top attorney in the state welfare agency.

Bob Corkins is now general counsel at the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services.

In 2005, Corkins was hired by the conservative majority on the State Board of Education to be education commissioner.

He had no experience in education either as a teacher or administrator, and little experience as a manager of employees.

Before his appointment, he operated one-person think tanks, lobbying against increases in school funding. As commissioner, he championed school voucher programs.

When moderates regained control of the board, Corkins resigned in 2006.

Now Corkins, an attorney, will lead the legal staff at one of the state’s largest agencies. He was hired by SRS Acting Secretary Robert Seidlecki Jr., a former federal attorney for the Task Force for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives in the Justice Department under President George W. Bush.