Training Calendar
The Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services offers a number of trainings each month for public defenders and staff, as well as for assigned counsel.
See below for more information about each training offered and to sign-up. Questions about training may be directed to Jude Beffa, Administrative Specialist, Training Office. She can be reached at 785-296-6648 or jbeffa@sbids.org.
Power Hour: Taser 101 with Micah Bunce, Special Investigator
Presented by: Micah Bunce, Special Investigator with the Salina Regional Public Defender Office. This presentation will provide a brief overview of Taser terminology you may see and hear in law enforcement reports. It will tell you about what red flags to look for when reviewing client cases where Taser deployment took place. It will also describe Taser Deployment Reports, what they look like, and what these reports tell you.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
CLE - Clear and Efficient Legal Writing: Top Tricks, Pet Peeves and Things You Wish You'd Learned in School with Kate Duncan Butler
Join us for Clear and Efficient Legal Writing: Top Tricks, Pet Peeves, and Things You Wish You’d Learned in School with Kate Duncan Butler.
This presentation will touch on tendencies - good and bad - displayed by many writers, best practices in legal writing, and common pitfalls that even the best writers make. Discussion points include: organization, writing for your audience, avoiding legalese, and frequent grammatical mistakes. Whether you’re writing a one-paragraph email, a letter or an appellate brief, this presentation aims to make you the best writer you can be!
Approved for 1 hour CLE Credit
$25 for Assigned Counsel. Free for BIDS Employees.
Prosecutors are not permitted.
Register Here
Public Defense and the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, presented by Lane Williams and Jessica Graff
Please join us to learn more about Public Defense and the Disability Rights Center of Kansas, presented by Lane Williams, Deputy Director of the Legal Division and Jessica Graff, Disability Rights Advocate with the Disability Rights Center of Kansas.
At times, the public defense team may learn of a client’s disability and find that the client needs access to resources in order to present a full defense, support mitigation, or be successful on probation. The Disability Rights Center of Kansas prioritizes advocacy and outreach for Kansans with disabilities on topics such as community-based services and healthcare, employment, community integration, accessibility, and other issues that can impact our clients. This presentation will highlight some of the services that the Disability Rights Center of Kansas provides and how this organization has worked and can continue to work with public defenders in Kansas to protect clients’ rights.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Medication Adherence with Laura Remy-Martin, Director of Clinical Research at Optum
Presented by: Laura Remy-Martin, Director of Clinical Research at Optum. There can be many societal, financial, mental health, physical, and other reasons why clients may not adhere to the medication schedule they have been prescribed. These reasons may be important for the defense team to know and communicate at an appropriate time during the defense of a client. In this presentation, Laura Remy-Martin will help investigators, mitigation specialists, and attorneys understand more about medication adherence, or lack thereof, by clients in the criminal justice system, and the external factors that can prevent a client from taking medication as prescribed.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
CLE: Closing the Loops for a More Sustainable Practice with Krystal Vokins
CLE: Closing the Loops for a More Sustainable Practice, presented by Krystal Vokins, Assistant Training Director for the Kansas State Board of Indigents’ Defense Services.
In public defense, there are many sources of potential stress, including occupational stress. This presentation will aim to broaden your concept of wellbeing by addressing a common source of occupational stress for most knowledge workers – Open Loops. Utilizing lessons learned from books such as “Getting Things Done” by David Allen and “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, we will look at “Open Loops” as a source of stress and discuss practical ways of managing these stressors to allow you to clear your mind and direct your energy away from managing stress and toward more substantive work.
1 hour Law Practice Management CLE Credit (Pending)
$25 for Assigned Counsel. Free for BIDS Employees.
Prosecutors are not permitted.
Register Here
Power Hour: Town Hall with Executive Director, Heather Cessna
This week’s power hour will be a Town Hall with Executive Director, Heather Cessna. Heather will be discussing the ongoing projects within the Administrative Office, as well as where we are in the budget process and will be available to answer questions. For this week’s power hour, we are going to use a webinar format, so that we can get the questions in the Q&A and moderate those a bit more efficiently.
Do not use the regularly power hour link for Thursday. Use the link below.
BIDS Admin Staff Office Hours
Office hours are a monthly opportunity for BIDS Chiefs and Deputies to virtually drop in to the Administrative Office. Admin Office staff will be on-hand to answer questions, and let our office leaders know what the Admin team is up to.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Kansas Defender Academy
Kansas Defender Academy is a week long intensive training for the agency’s newest Public Defenders.
Forensic Investigations: Investigator Conference
Second Annual Investigators’ Conference. The focus this year will be on forensic issues with presentations on Cellebrite (cell phone data), DNA, and issue spotting in interviewing and interrogations.
Power Hour: Suicide Awareness and Prevention
Join Jeff Dazey, former BIDS attorney, and KALAP to discuss issues surrounding mental health and criminal defense.
Power Hour: Meet the Training Department/Training Request Refresher
Officially meet the members of the training department, including our new Assistant Training Director, Krystal Vokins. We will also be giving a refresher on the process of requesting to go to outside training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
BIDS Admin Staff Office Hours
Office hours are a monthly opportunity for BIDS Chiefs and Deputies to virtually drop in to the Administrative Office. Admin Office staff will be on-hand to answer questions, and let our office leaders know what the Admin team is up to.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Legislative Update with BIDS Legislative Committee Members
July 1st is around the corner so please join us for an informal review and discussion about the statutory amendments going into effect, including the jail credit changes that were effective as of May 23, 2024.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
CLE: Procrastinators CLE, Presented by Danielle Hall, Chief of Professionalism and Outreach, Office of Judicial Administration
1 Hour - Ethics
Danielle Hall of the Office of Judicial Administration will be presenting. Great opportunity to get that last ethics hour in. It will also have some great information on time management and ways to battle procrastination even if you have all of your ethics hours.
Free for BIDS Employees; $25 for assigned counsel.
You can register HERE
CLE: Courageous Lawyering, Presented by Chief Judge Karen Arnold-Burger of the Kansas Court of Appeals
You probably know the history of Bleeding Kansas and the pre-Civil War history of our state. But are you familiar with the contributions made by Black lawyers, newly arrived in Kansas from the northeastern US? Do you know the history of lawyers in Leavenworth County who tried cases to all-white juries? You’ve probably been to Kansas City, Kansas, but do you know the history of the Quindaro area and the people of color who practiced law there? Did your commute to law school involve rowing a boat across a river? This two-hour program (approved for both ethics CLE and CJE) will acquaint you with Kansas legal pioneers you don’t already know and inspire you to think about how your own practice can become more courageous.
2 Hours - Ethics
Free for BIDS Employees; $25 for assigned counsel.
Register HERE
Power Hour: Motivational Triad with BIDS Director, Heather Cessna
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
CLE: KS Sentencing Commission Electronic Journal Entry
John Grube, KSSC Research Director, and Jason Lamprecht, KSSC Senior Research Analyst, will present along with Domo Program Manager, Boris Zipilich. During this training attendees can expect to learn how to log into Domo and navigate to the app, how to begin and fill out an eJE, learn overall case/app flow, learn how to begin, fill out and submit an ePVJE and much more.
Throughout the presentation, attendees will be able to ask questions and engage with presenters to become familiar with Domo.
1 Hour CLE Credit - General (Free)
Register HERE
BIDS Admin Staff Office Hours
Office hours are a monthly opportunity for BIDS Chiefs and Deputies to virtually drop in to the Administrative Office. Admin Office staff will be on-hand to answer questions, and let our office leaders know what the Admin team is up to.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Speedy Trial Refresher with Corrine Gunning and Kasper Schirer
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Probation Revocations, Part 2 with Houston Bales
Please join us as Houston Bales, of the Sedgwick County Public Defender Office, follows up on Emily Brandt’s Probation Revocations Power Hour with tips for revocation hearings.
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Meet the BIDS Board with Erica Andrade
This will be the second in a series of opportunities to get to know the people who serve on the BIDS Board a little better! We will have Erica Andrade, MPA. Erica is the public member from the 2nd Congressional District. She will introduce herself, talk about her work on the Board, and take questions as time permits.
These trainings aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 12+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 12th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Probation Revocations, Looking Beyond the Motion
Please join us as Emily Brandt with the Appellate Defender Office talks about looking beyond the alleged probation violations when representing your clients in a probation revocation hearing. She’ll be talking to us about jurisdiction issues, graduated sanction schemes, and developments in case law regarding probation revocations.
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Capital Defense in BIDS
Are you interested in someday doing capital work with the agency. Join us for a panel of attorneys who are currently doing capital work in different capacities with BIDS, and learn about Capital Defense in BIDS, including: the path to those positions, what it is like being a capital defender, highs, lows, pace of work, current vacancies, anticipated job opportunities for the future, and who to contact if you are interested.
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
BIDS Admin Staff Office Hours
Office hours are a monthly opportunity for BIDS Chiefs and Deputies to virtually drop in to the Administrative Office. Admin Office staff will be on-hand to answer questions, and let our office leaders know what the Admin team is up to.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: "How to Avoid Suffering a Mental Disease or Defect from Mental Disease or Defect"
Please join us as Kelson Bohnet talks about the nuts and bolts of the Mental Disease or Defect Defense.
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Ask a Youth Defender
Please join us as we talk about what youth defense looks like in Kansas! Meet Ben Long, Katherine Haggard, and Bridget Schell, three youth defenders that are a part of the Gault Center’s Kansas Ambassador Program, bringing specialization, training, and community to the youth defense world in Kansas. Additional guests will include Gavriella Roisman and Sarah Johnson from the Gault Center.
Power Hours aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 10+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 10th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Town Hall with the Heather Cessna, BIDS Executive Director
Please join us for a preview of the BIDS budget request for the upcoming legislative session, a recap of the 2023 BIDS Employee Well-Being Report, and more!
This session will be offered as a “Power Hour”, not for CLE credit.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Working Better With Experts with Jeff Dazey, Senior Assistant Capital Defender, and Lisa Witcher, Licensed Psychologist
Bring your lunch, and join us for a quick, informal training put on by a BIDS or friend-of-BIDS expert. These trainings are geared towards newer attorneys. Our expert will speak for 20-30 minutes, leaving time for questions at the end.
These trainings aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 12+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 12th training.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
The ABA Plea Bargain Task Force Report and What It Means For Your Practice (1 Hour CLE Credit)
At its August House of Delegates meeting, the American Bar Association adopted the 14 principles proposed by the Association’s Plea Bargain Task Force. Join us for an hour with Heather Cessna, BIDS Executive Director, where she will discuss the 14 principles and how they apply to the work that public defenders and assigned counsel do.
This CLE is approved for 1 hour of CLE credit. It is $25 for assigned counsel, free for state-employed public defenders, and not open to prosecutors. Register here.
BIDS Admin Staff Office Hours
Office hours are a monthly opportunity for BIDS Chiefs and Deputies to virtually drop in to the Administrative Office. Admin Office staff will be on-hand to answer questions, and let our office leaders know what the Admin team is up to.
Email Jude if you need the recurring link.
Power Hour: Meet the BIDS Board with Braden Perry and Dr. Michael Birzer
This will be the first in a series of opportunities to get to know the people who serve on the BIDS Board a little better! First up we’ll have our current Board President, Braden Perry, and our current Secretary, Dr. Michael Birzer. They will introduce themselves, talk about their work on the Board, and take questions as time permits.
These trainings aren’t offered for CLE credit, but if you attend 12+ in a calendar year and you’ve worked for BIDS for 5 years or less, you’ll get a shiny BIDS travel mug on your 12th training.
Email Meryl if you need the recurring link.