Acting Administrator in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)

Keynote Speaker

Melodee Hanes is the Acting Administrator in the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). Ms. Hanes previously served as Acting Deputy Administrator for Policy from June 2009, when she was appointed to the position by President Barack Obama, to January 2012. Ms. Hanes' 30-year career in public service and law includes work as a deputy county attorney in the Yellowstone County (MT) Attorney’s Office, prosecuting child abuse, sexual assault, and homicide cases. She also served as an assistant county attorney in the Polk County (IA) Attorney's Office, prosecuting major felony crimes.

Ms. Hanes taught child abuse law and forensic medicine and law at Drake University Law School. She has lectured extensively and published in these areas of expertise. She also served on the faculty of the National District Attorneys Association's National Advocacy Center in Columbia, SC, and the Child Protection Training Academy in Des Moines, IA.

Before joining the Justice Department in 2009, Ms. Hanes served as state director and counsel in the office of U.S. Senator Max Baucus (D–MT). Ms. Hanes earned a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from the University of Utah and a law degree from the Drake University Law School.