photo by: Chris Conde/.Journal-World

Former Douglas County prosecutors David Melton and Eve Kemple pose together after winning awards from the Kansas County and District Attorneys Association on Oct. 27, 2023, at the KCDAA Fall Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel. Melton won a Lifetime Achievement Award, and Kemple won Associate Member Prosecutor of the Year.

Two former Douglas County prosecutors were honored on Thursday in Lawrence with prestigious statewide awards.

The Kansas County and District Attorneys Association, the professional organization for prosecutors in the state, handed out the awards at its annual fall conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel.

Former Douglas County Deputy District Attorney David Melton was given a Lifetime Achievement Award. Melton worked as a prosecutor under former Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson for 16 years and briefly for current DA Suzanne Valdez. He now works as an assistant county attorney in Leavenworth County.

He told the Journal-World on Thursday that he remembered attending an award ceremony as a young attorney and seeing someone win a similar award; he said that he couldn’t then imagine someone doing such a stressful job for so long.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson, left, introduces David Melton, right, as KCDAA President Chris McMullin, center, presents Melton with a Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 26, 2023.

“Well, here I am. I loved my time in Douglas County with Branson, and I am proud to have done my part to help keep the community safe,” Melton said.

Melton was nominated for the award by Leavenworth County Attorney Todd Thompson, who said he was proud to have Melton working in his office. He shared a story about Melton regarding a recent trial where the jury said that Melton was “too mean” to the defendant, to which Melton responded, “Do you expect me to be nice to a child molester?”

Also honored was Eve Kemple, who also spent 16 years with the Douglas County DA’s office, working mainly for Branson and briefly for Valdez before leaving in 2021 with the title of chief assistant district attorney. The KCDAA named Kemple the Associate Member Prosecutor of the Year. She was nominated by Jackie Williams, Kansas deputy attorney general. Kemple is currently a senior assistant attorney general working in the Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Division.

Kemple told the Journal-World that she was honored that Williams thought of her for the award and that she couldn’t do her job alone but relied on her team at the Attorney General’s Office.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Deputy Attorney General Jackie Williams, left, introduces Eve Kemple, right, as KCDAA President Chris McMullin, center, presents Kemple with an award for Associate Member Prosecutor of the Year on Oct. 26, 2023.

“The people I work with in Medicaid Fraud and Abuse should really be here with me today. They work so hard. It is very collaborative work,” Kemple said.

She said the team works across the state with some of the most vulnerable people who rely on Medicaid.

Other winners Thursday included Bethany Fields of Riley County, who won Prosecutor of the Year, and Municipal Court Judge Karen Wittman, from Wyandotte County, who also won a Lifetime Achievement Award.

State Sen. Kellie Warren, R-Leawood, who won the award for Policymaker of the Year, encouraged the attorneys in attendance to get involved with the Legislature, saying that too few legislators had a full understanding of the law.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were current members of the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office, including Valdez and Deputy DA Joshua Seiden.

Douglas County Senior Assistant District Attorney David Greenwald is scheduled to give a presentation Friday afternoon at the conference about fentanyl and prosecution. Greenwald is currently prosecuting several fentanyl overdose death cases in Douglas County, as the Journal-World has reported.