Melody Brannon

MELODY BRANNON is the Federal Public Defender for the District of Kansas. After receiving her law degree from the University of Oklahoma School of Law, Melody began her legal career with the Oklahoma County Public Defender. She has worked as a capital defense attorney in Oklahoma and Kansas, as well as a capital habeas attorney at the Texas Resource Center. Melody joined the Kansas Federal Public Defender in 1998.

She has served as the Federal Public Defender since 2014. 

As a Defender, Melody has developed a holistic defense paradigm for federal cases and created an extensive CLE, mentoring, and internship program. In 2017, Melody was honored with the Federal Public Defender Attorney Recognition Award. Alongside her duties as Federal Public Defender, Melody is a faculty member of the National Criminal Defense College and the annual orientation seminar for new assistant federal public defenders. 

When Melody is not at work, she can be found riding her bike, cooking, or attending pottery classes.