Chad D. Tenpenny
Attorney
Chad D. Tenpenny launched Tenpenny Law LLC in 2022 after a twenty-four-year career as an influential US Senate staffer. He brings a wide range of political, policy, and pragmatic experience to the government relations and legal field. Tenpenny is the only person in history to serve on the US Senate staff of Senator Robert J. Dole, Senator Pat Roberts, and current Senator Roger Marshall. Tenpenny served as Roberts’ third and final Chief of Staff after serving for nearly two decades as his State Director and Counsel. Chad concluded his Senate career as Senator Marshall’s General Counsel.
Tenpenny has developed strong relationships with key community leaders and policymakers in Washington, DC, Topeka, throughout Kansas, and the Kansas City area. He has experience successfully working with local, state, and federal agencies including dozens of municipal and county governments, the Kansas Department of Transportation, and the Army Corps of Engineers. Tenpenny is a veteran of four victorious US Senate races and maintains a keen understanding of Kansas politics and its key personalities. He has earned a reputation for being responsive, steady, dependable, flexible, and resilient enough to meet any challenge.
More about Chad
ORGANIZATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS
- Licensed to practice law in Kansas since 1997.
- Leadership Kansas – 2004 graduate and active alumni of respected leadership program.
- De Soto Economic Development Council – Executive Advisory Committee
- Rotary Club of Overland Park
- Board of Directors – President – 2024-2025
- 2008 July 4 Star-Spangled Spectacular Chair
- Paul Harris Fellow (2)
- Kansas City Area – Beta Theta Pi – Board of Directors
- University of Kansas – Kappa Alpha Theta – Dads’ Club – Chairman 2024
SUCCESSES
Highlights of Tenpenny’s Senate service include involvement in the effort to permit and fund construction of the South Lawrence Trafficway, accompanying Senator Roberts on a trade mission to Havana, Cuba, where they met with Fidel Castro, and serving both Roberts and Senator Marshall in the effort to thoroughly vet and confirm presidential appointees, including several federal judges. Tenpenny also played a key role in four successful US Senate campaigns.
Since launching in 2022, Tenpenny Law has won a broad series of government relations achievements on behalf of clients at the federal, state, and local levels.
FEDERAL
- Positive engagement, including on-site visits and DC Fly-Ins with the Kansas
- Congressional Delegation focused on clients’ Congressionally Directed Spending priorities.
- Organized and coordinated multiple site tours for US Cabinet Secretaries and top
White House officials. - Fosters positive long-term relationships with the entire Kansas Congressional Delegation.
STATE
- Led private sector efforts, adding $3 million to the Kansas Department of Agriculture FY 2026 Budget for the purpose of enhancing an unmanned aerial vehicle test range.
- Provided strategic and successful legal and public relations counsel to Prairie Hills USD 113 in a boundary dispute involving both the Kansas State Board of Education and the Kansas Legislature, saving the district more than $350,000.
- Successfully represented multiple Kansas businesses in matters involving the Kansas Board of Regents.
- Lobbies for a major Kansas-based mutual health insurance company.
LOCAL
- Led and managed efforts to secure a construction industry special use permit, enhanced zoning, and a benefit district in the growing city of De Soto, Kansas.
- Guided an effort to identify land and secure a lease, helping a Kansas business expand.
- Provided strategic advice, counsel, and advocacy in the successful effort to require concrete in the construction of new city streets in Overland Park.
- Facilitated communications with local telecommunications provider resulting in the delivery of rural broadband services to a growing high-tech business.
EDUCATION
- Bachelor of Arts; University of Kansas; Political Science; 1994
- Juris Doctor; University of Kansas School of Law; 1997