David Adkins (Kansas politician)

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David Adkins (born March 11, 1961) is an American attorney and former member of the Kansas State Legislature. As of 2023^[update], he leads The Council of State Governments as its ninth executive director and CEO.^[2]

Adkins earned degrees in political science and law from the University of Kansas where he was elected student body president and was the first KU student selected to receive the prestigious Harry S. Truman Scholarship. At the University of Kansas School of Law,^[2] he was a regional champion in the National Moot Court Competition and received law school awards for appellate advocacy. He worked his way through college as a toll collector on the Kansas Turnpike.

He entered state government in 1993, after successfully running as a Republican for the Kansas House of Representatives in the 1992 elections, and won re-election to three additional two-year terms representing a district that included all of the City of Leawood, Kansas, a suburb of Kansas City, MO. In the 2000 election, he was elected to the Kansas Senate. Kansas Senate's 7th district, which includes Northeast Johnson County, Kansas.^[1]

During his service in the Kansas House, Adkins chaired the House Committee on Taxation and the Appropriations Committee. He also served as vice-chair of the House Judiciary Committee.