The Wyandotte County mayors, in cooperation with Wyandotte County Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast Committee, will hold the 43rd annual Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast at 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 3.
The breakfast buffet and program will be held at the Reardon Convention Center at 500 Minnesota Ave., Kansas City, Kan. Seating begins at 7:30 a.m. Tickets are $22 per person. All ticket reservations must be paid in advance.
This year’s keynote speaker will be Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark A. Dupree Sr. The event is open to everyone.
Dupree, who was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2017, leads an office of 60 employees and manages a significant budget each fiscal year. The District Attorney’s office is responsible for keeping the community safe. He is implementing strategic and visionary policies to expand the function of the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office. Dupree’s focus is equitably charging and prosecuting crime, being proactive, attacking violent crimes and crimes that affect the standard of living in the community.
“I am focused on implementing the platform the citizens of Wyandotte County elected me to execute,” Dupree said, in a news release. His four-point plan for making Wyandotte County safer, includes: 1. Smart Prosecution; 2. Community Prosecutor’s Unit; 3. Fiscal Responsibility, and 4. Youth Investment.
Dupree has practiced in a diversity of legal capacities. He clerked in Jackson County, Mo., served as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Jackson County, served as an assistant public defender in the Johnson County Public Defender’s Office, and he and his wife practiced in their firm, Dupree and Dupree, LLC – Attorneys at Law, until his swearing into office.
Dupree’s goal is to give back what was sowed into him, and he does this by speaking at countless churches and schools, according to a spokesman. Dupree has been the host of “Legal Shadow Day” experiences, sponsored a free month-long legal clinic, and has been the host of “Cuts and Confidence,” providing half-price haircuts to students in the Wyandotte County area.
Dupree is an active member in the community. He is an associate pastor and ordained elder at his father’s church in Wyandotte County. He is a governor on the Kansas Bar Association Board of Governors, serves on the Kansas Legal Services Board of Directors, former committee chairperson for the Wyandotte County Bar Association, is an executive board member on the Earl E. O’Connor American Inn of Courts, serves on the Board of Directors for the Sunflower House, a Children’s Advocacy center and is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Dupree attended the University of Kansas and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and a minor in Leadership Studies. He attended Washburn University School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate Degree. Dupree is married to his law school sweetheart and former law partner, attorney Shanelle Dupree, and they have four children.
“We encourage the community to attend the Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast and hear how Dupree’s faith has given him a special direction in life and commitment to the community,” Tom Johnson, Mayors’ Prayer Breakfast committee chairperson, said.
All ticket reservations must be paid in advance. Reservations may be made by emailing emailing wycomayorsprayerbreakfast@gmail.com.