Our Board

The Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense consists of nine people appointed by the Governor and subject to confirmation by the Senate.

While the Board is not involved in day-to-day decisions in the representation of clients, it is responsible for approving the KSBIDS yearly budget requests before they are submitted to the legislature, enacting major policies, approving contracts, and hiring the Executive Director.

Board members are appointed for three-year terms. Per statute, the Board cannot have more than five Kansas attorney members, but it should have at least one lawyer member from each county with a population over 100,000 people. Additionally, the Board must have one member from each congressional district, except for the First Congressional District, which gets two members. Learn more about our current board members below.

  • Photo of board member Braden Perry

    Braden Perry

    Braden Perry is the attorney member from Johnson County. He is also currently serving as Board Chairperson. Perry is a regulatory and government investigations attorney with Kansas City-based firm Kennyhertz Perry, LLC. He has the unique tripartite experience of a white-collar criminal defense and government compliance investigations attorney at a national law firm; a senior enforcement attorney at a federal regulatory agency; and the Chief Compliance Officer of a global financial institution.

  • Photo of board member Dr. Michael Birzer

    Dr. Michael Birzer

    Dr. Michael Birzer is the public member from the 4th Congressional District. Birzer is also currently serving as Board Secretary. He is a professor and graduate coordinator in the School of Criminal Justice at Wichita State University.

  • Photo of board member Erica Andrade

    Erica Andrade, MPA

    Erica Andrade is the public member from the 2nd Congressional District. Andrade has dedicated over 20 years to El Centro, a local for purpose organization that has served the Latino community in Wyandotte and Johnson Counties for over 45 years.

  • Maurice Brewer

    Maurice Brewer is the attorney member from Wyandotte County. Maurice started his legal career as a public defender in West Plains, Missouri helping indigent clients maintain their liberty. In 2016, he returned to the Kansas City area where he worked as a prosecutor in Jackson County, Missouri, and Wyandotte County, Kansas. He is currently the managing attorney at the Brewer Law Group in Kansas City.

  • Photo of board member Laurel Michel Driskell

    Laurel Michel Driskell

    ldriskell@sbids.org

    Laurel Michel Driskell is the attorney member from Saline County. Driskell is an attorney with Kennedy Berkley law firm in Salina, Kansas.

  • Photo of board member Michelle Ewert

    Michelle Ewert

    Michelle Ewert is the attorney member from Shawnee County. Ewert is an Associate Professor of Law at Washburn University, where she teaches in the Washburn Law Clinic. She is deeply committed to legal services for low-income individuals, and previously worked for the Homeless Persons Representation Project in Baltimore, Maryland; Central California Legal Services in Visalia, California; and HOPE Fair Housing Center in Wheaton, Illinois. She received her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin and her Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota.

  • Photo of board member Patricia Hudgins

    Patricia Hudgins

    Patricia Hudgins is the public member from the 1st Congressional District. Hudgins is the Associate Director of the Kansas State University Career Center.

  • Photo of Board Member Alexandra “Nicki” Rose

    Alexandra “Nicki” Rose

    Alexandra “Nicki” Rose is the attorney member from Sedwgick County. Nicki is an attorney with Foulston Siefkin LLP and is a member of the firm’s Litigation Team. Her practice includes all things civil litigation, but is most heavily focused on class-action litigation, insurance coverage issues, and defending drivers who have been sued after car wrecks.

  • Vacant Position

    The Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services currently has a vacancy. The vacant position is for the public member from the 3rd Congressional District.