A Kansas City-area attorney will be joining Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s staff next month as his chief counsel.

Brownback announced Wednesday that he had named Brant Laue to the job. Laue will replace Caleb Stegall, named by Brownback to the state Court of Appeals and confirmed by the Kansas Senate last month.

The governor’s office said Laue will become chief counsel Nov. 4, but Stegall will remain on Brownback’s staff for several weeks to help with the transition.

Stegall will be sworn in as a Court of Appeals judge Jan. 3.

Laue is a native of Hanover, and his family has a cattle ranch there.

He is a 1986 graduate of the Cornell Law School in Ithaca, N.Y., and formerly worked for the U.S. Justice Department in Washington.