Fallen chief
to be honored
Staff writer
Former Burns police chief and Butler County sheriff’s deputy Stephen Evans, who died Oct. 25 in a crash just north of El Dorado, will be honored during a series of events in May.
He will be remembered May 5 during a candlelight vigil at Kansas Peace Officers Memorial on the grounds of the state capital.
The next day, he will be honored at a service there.
His name, along with the names of five other Kansas officers killed in the line of duty during 2021, also has been added to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in District of Columbia.
National police week ceremonies there will be May 11 to 17. Evans’ name will be read during a May 13 candlelight vigil.
A group, Kansas Concerns of Police Survivors, will pay expenses of a trip for Evans’ wife, Andrea, to attend.
A memorial march and service will be May 14.
Wreath laying at the memorial will be May 15.
On May 25, Evans will receive posthumous chief’s award for officers who died in the line of duty during the 2022 Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Manhattan.
He is one of 76 Kansas officers who will receive a valor award for which 178 were nominated. He is the only one slated for a chief’s award.
Evans was hired by Burns in April 2021. He also was a Butler County deputy starting May 2020.
Before becoming a deputy, he worked 15 years for the Kansas Department of Corrections.
Evans had finished his shift at Burns and was driving toward his home in El Dorado when he turned back to assist a Marion County deputy.
While he was making a U-turn, his car was hit on the driver’s side door by a pickup. Evans died at the scene.