photo by: AP File Photo

Former Kansas Attorney General Robert Stephan, right, looks at Laura Green, director of the Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition, during a news conference Friday, Aug. 17, 2007, at the Statehouse in Topeka.

TOPEKA — Four-term Attorney General Robert Stephan, who emphasized consumer rights and was acquitted of perjury tied to allegations of sexual harassment, died overnight Tuesday at the age of 89.

His Republican political career began with election as a district court judge in Wichita. He was elected Kansas attorney general in 1978 and was reelected three times as the state’s top law enforcement officer. He left the job in 1995 and worked in corporate law on consumer and trade issues.

He broke with convention in 2007 by endorsing legalization of medical marijuana in Kansas. He endorsed Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s reelection campaign in 2022.

“There is no greater responsibility for an elected official than fighting for the interests of Kansans regardless of party or political interests,” Stephan said.

Derek Schmidt, the three-term GOP attorney general preparing to leave office this month, said he was saddened to learn of the passing of the state’s longest-serving attorney general.

“Bob served in a different era, but his 16-year tenure left a lasting mark on our office — particularly his contributions to crime victim rights and to consumer protection,” Schmidt said.

In 1992, a federal grand jury indicted Stephan on a charge of perjury. It stemmed from a lawsuit initiated by a former office clerk who alleged he sexually harassed her. The settlement of that suit was to remain confidential, but Stephan was sued by the former clerk when information about the deal was disclosed. The grand jury concluded Stephan was dishonest when testifying in his own defense, but he was acquitted in 1995.

Stephan was born in January 1933 and raised in Wichita. He earned a law degree at Washburn University in Topeka.

— Tim Carpenter reports for Kansas Reflector.