Topeka ? Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s top deputy is a veteran state government employee who held the same job under one of Schmidt’s predecessors.

Schmidt is bringing John Campbell back as chief deputy attorney general.

Campbell held the same job from 1995 to 2003 under Attorney General Carla Stovall, a Republican like Schmidt.

Campbell served before that as chief of civil litigation for Attorney General Bob Stephan, also a Republican. After working for Stovall, Campbell was general counsel for the Kansas Insurance Department until he headed Schmidt’s transition team after last year’s election.

Schmidt, a former Kansas Senate majority leader, unseated Democratic Attorney General Steve Six in November.