Meet the New Bosses in Sedgwick County

by Anastasia Leininger, Sedgwick County Public Defender

Sedgwick County BIDS office welcomes Sonya Strickland and Bach Hang, who assumed the roles of Chief and Deputy, respectively, last year.

Collectively, Sonya and Bach have over 40 years of experience as criminal law practitioners.  They both worked in private practice for many years before joining BIDS.  

Growing up in a military family, Sonya learned how to go with the flow and handle change at a young age. She attended 12 different schools in 10 years due to her father’s work in Japan, Texas, Guam, and then finally, Kansas. She worked her way through Wichita State University and then attended law school at Washburn. 

Going into law school, Sonya thought she wanted to be a prosecutor, but came to her senses during her 2L year and decided to be one of the good guys. “People aren’t the worst thing they’ve ever done” are words she lives by.

Sonya served at the Junction City public defender office from 2004-2006, with Joseph Hollander and Craft from 2004-2006, briefly with the Federal Public Defender Office, and since 2015, Sonya has been zealously defending the accused as an employee of BIDS. For 7 years, Sonya also was an adjunct Professor of Pretrial Criminal Advocacy at Washburn Law.  

Sonya has one child, 16-year old Alex, and two pups – Speedy, the 9-year old Beagle, and Casey, the 4-year old Lab. She enjoys reading, spending time with good friends, and eating good food! 

Bach has a unique perspective on what many of our clients go through on a daily basis. He is a product of hard work and sacrifice. His parents brought him and his two brothers to America for free education and better opportunities. Bach will tell you it was not easy to do at the age of five, but he quickly learned English watching sitcoms and reading street signs.

After Bach graduated from Washburn Law School in 2002, he began his career at the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office. In fact, he thought he was going to be a lifetime prosecutor. After about 3½ years, he left the DA’s Office and worked at Joseph Hollander & Craft in Wichita. He worked there for almost 13 years, until he recently rejoined BIDS.

Bach has a tween daughter named Lillie, is a huge Cardinals fan, an avid pickleball player, coaches a mock trial team, and is the number one networker in the office. He frequently attends bar association events and is constantly seeking out opportunities for our lawyers to grow and for opportunities to make meaningful change in the community. His most recent project includes overseeing a Driver’s License Clinic that aims to help individuals in the community looking to reinstate their license. 

Sonya and Bach are both committed to  growing the Sedgwick County BIDS office for years to come. We are lucky as an agency to have their wealth of experience leading such a busy office.