Brandon Cameron has filed for election to be the next Allen County attorney.
If successful, he hopes to build on local efforts targeting mental health and substance misuse, and educate the community about his office’s role in addressing those and other challenges.
The county attorney is the top law enforcement officer and responsible for prosecuting violations of local and state laws.
Jerry Hathaway currently serves as county attorney and has announced he will not run for re-election. Hathaway has held the position for the better part of 20 years, joining the office as an assistant attorney in 2002.
Cameron has worked as an assistant county attorney for Hathaway for nearly four years.
He grew up in Oklahoma, in a family with a long line of attorneys and teachers.
In high school, Cameron competed in speech and debate, including a national tournament in 2008. That experience taught him what it takes to put forth a successful argument.
“You recognize how people use arguments for good and bad. People would abuse that and when I recognized it, there was a sense of injustice. I wanted to rectify that,” he said. “The philosophy to do good is something that primarily motivates me.”
Cameron enjoyed studying history and philosophy. He’s also a Catholic and said he starts each day asking how he can best serve his vocation as a father and as a Christian, and his community. “It’s important to reflect at the end of the day if I was able to do that.”
He graduated from the University of Oklahoma, then earned a master’s degree in history at Pittsburg State University and his juris doctorate degree from Washburn University in Topeka. He began practicing law in Southeast Kansas in 2016 and met his wife, Kaylan. They have three boys, ages 2 through 9, and a two-month-old daughter. They live in Iola.
Cameron worked in private practice until the COVID-19 pandemic, when he took on as assistant county attorney in Bourbon County. That’s how he got to know Hathaway, and joined the Allen County office. He also serves as Wilson County attorney and plans to continue both positions if elected here.
“Mr. Hathaway has taken me under his wing and helped me a great deal,” he said. Hathaway said he hopes to continue to work with the office after the election to ease the transition.
Cameron said he appreciates the amenities offered in Iola and the surrounding area, such as its walking and biking trail system, a new state park in development and playgrounds for his children.
“I’ve had the opportunity to live in a lot of communities in Southeast Kansas and Allen County is by far one of the friendliest I’ve ever been in. This community really bands together, especially to help the less fortunate. There are wonderful opportunities here. Iola is not living in the past. We’re moving forward.”
THAT’S NOT to say Allen County doesn’t have its problems, he said. Like the rest of the nation, Allen County is impacted by mental health issues and substance misuse.
