Meet the Board members
Kristen D. Wheeler
Board Chair – Appointment Expires January 15, 2025
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Kristen D. Wheeler is an attorney and lifelong Kansan who grew up in Emporia and currently resides in Wichita. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Kansas and her law degree magna cum laude from Washburn University School of Law. Chair Wheeler worked in private practice for over twelve years at the Wichita firms of Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock & Kennedy, Chartered and Robinson Law Firm, LLC where she focused on commercial and residential real estate transactions, financial services litigation, civil litigation, business formation and operation, municipal practice, and intellectual property protection. In 2018, Chair Wheeler joined the chambers of the Honorable J. Thomas Marten, United States District Court Judge for the District of Kansas as a Law Clerk and served in that capacity Judge Marten’s retirement. Chair Wheeler is a past President and board member of the Wichita Women Attorneys Association and currently serves as the Secretary/Treasurer of the Wichita Bar Association, co-chair of the Education and Outreach Committee of the Kansas Women Attorneys Association, Editor for the Kansas Annual Survey of the Law, and on the Board of Publishers for the Kansas Bar Association. She is a company member and volunteer with Ballet Wichita. Chair Wheeler was appointed to the Board in April 2021 and became Chair of the Board on July 1, 2021.
Ginger A. Powell
Board Member – Appointment Expires January 15, 2024
Ginger A. Powell is a Certified Public Accountant and a resident of Topeka for over 60 years. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Washburn University in 1979 and became a CPA in 1981. Member Powell is a former managing director of Berberich Trahan & Co. where she practiced public accounting for 35 years. Her career with the firm included both tax and audit experience. She is a member of the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Kansas Society of CPAs. Member Powell was a member of the Kansas Board of Accountancy from 2003 to 2012 and served as chairman of the board in 2005-2006 and 2010-2011. She has been active in her community. She was a member of the board of directors of the Girls Club of Topeka in the 1980’s and the Volunteer Center in the 1990’s. She was a trustee of the Capper Foundation from 1988 to 1998, member of the Operation Committee from 1998 to 2008 and has served a chair of their audit committee since 2009. She was on the board of directors of the Helping Hands Humane Society from 1998 to 2008 and served as chairman of the board from 2002 to 2006. She is currently a director with Alliance Bank in Topeka. Member Powell was appointed to the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals in 2021.
Devin Sprecker
Board Member – Appointed to the Board of Tax Appeal in February 2022
Devin Sprecker is a Certified General Real Property Appraiser and a lifelong Kansan who has resided in the Osage County, Kansas area since 1984. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business degree from Emporia State University in 1984 and became a Certified General Real Property Appraiser (Certificate No G-933) in 1993. Member Sprecker has over 25 years' experience in conducting various types of appraisals. Formerly he engaged in appraisals for right-of-way and temporary easements for both the Kansas Department of Transportation and the City of Topeka; engaged in the appraisal of real estate for taxation in Kansas and Nebraska while with the Midwest Appraisal Company; and previously conducted and prepared numerous appraisal reports on various types of commercial, industrial, and agricultural properties with Sprecker Appraisal. Member Sprecker was first appointed to the Board of Tax Appeals in October 2015, with his term ending in April 2020. Presently, in his community, he is on the Board of Directors with Lyndon State Bank and owns and operates a cattle and row crop enterprise. Member Sprecker was reappointed to the Board of Tax Appeal in February 2022.
Thomas P. Browne, Jr.
Chief Hearings Officer/Member Pro-Tem – Appointment Expires January 15, 2025
Thomas P. Browne, Jr. is a lifelong Kansan who grew up and continues to live in the Topeka area. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Washburn University in 1982. Chief Hearings Officer Browne’s began his career 1982 as an Auditor with the Kansas Department of Revenue (KDOR). Then in 1987, he took a position in the Privilege Tax Section of KDOR; which ultimately led him to writing opinion letters and private letter rulings on different tax types along with approving project exemption certificates for the Director of Taxation. Then in 1990, Chief Hearings Officer Browne joined KDOR’s Tax Policy Group and in 1995 he became a Hearing Officer in the KDOR’s Office of Administrative Appeals. As a Hearing Officer he conducted informal hearings with taxpayers and/or their representative to resolve tax disputes on corporate income and sales/use tax audits and severed as the Problem Resolution Officer for corporate income tax until his appointment as the Board of Tax Appeals’ Chief Hearings Officer in June, 2020. During his first tenure with the Board, Chief Hearings Officer Browne served as Chair of the Board from April 9, 2021 through June 30, 2021. Chief Hearings Officer Browne was reappointed to the Board of Tax Appeals in January 2021.