Meet Kala Beauvais who is running for Pueblo district attorney. What's her background?

Chief Trial Deputy District Attorney Kala Beauvais has announced she is running for Pueblo district attorney.

"I was born and raised in Pueblo, my kids are sixth-generation Puebloans. With Mr. Chostner deciding that he isn't going to run again, I saw an opportunity to come in and make some changes that I hope can be an effective and positive change in Pueblo," she said in a phone interview with the Chieftain.

The announcement follows current DA Jeff Chostner's own announcement that after more than a decade in the role, he will not be running for office in November.

Beauvais stated that as DA, she aims to "make Pueblo safer."

Setting herself apart

“As the elected District Attorney, I will strive to obtain justice for victims and their families, accountability for offenders, and a better, safer quality of life for the Pueblo community.  Our citizens deserve nothing less,” said Beauvais in a news release.

Specifically, Beauvais told the Chieftain in the interview, this entails strengthening partnerships with local and federal law enforcement and building relationships with the community.

Beauvais acknowledged Chostner's work to create partnerships with local and state agencies and stated she believed they could continue to grow. Moreover, she emphasized building community relationships.

"I think (that involves) education and training for the community about what really happens at the DA's office. They are our witnesses, our jurors, so I think having that partnership between the DA's office and community members is huge ... that relationship with the community certainly needs to grow."

For Beauvais, this means town halls, a social media campaign, and being available for question and answer sessions with the community, as well as "any type of training we can put out."

Like Chostner, Beauvais also emphasized closing the attorney shortage at the DA's office, which is down about eight positions, Chostner said in a recent interview.

"The public defender's office currently outnumbers us," Beauvais said. "(I want to hire more attorneys) to be able to take harder stances on cases and make a significant reduction in the repeat offenders that continuously commit these crimes in the community. If I have a full staff of deputy DAs, we'll be in a better position to take a harder stance on lessening plea offers or offering harsher plea agreements, we'd be in a much better position to take harder stances on our cases."

Background on Beauvais

Beauvais graduated from Pueblo County High School and attended Colorado State University Pueblo, before earning her law degree from the University of Wyoming.

Beauvais returned to Pueblo in 2012 and started her career at the District Attorney's Office, prosecuting cases in county court. For the last two years, she has served as chief trial deputy.

As chief trial deputy, Beauvais supervises district court attorneys and their supervisors. "I also supervise the district, county court, and juvenile supervisors, but it's really about looking at the bigger cases, collaborating with my attorneys to make sure we're being as successful as we can in jury trials, working with law enforcement to make cases stronger evidence wise, some administrative duties, but my focus is mostly on my attorneys and the cases.

Most recently, Beauvais secured the conviction of Ramondo Jones in the 2020 death of Aiden Seeley, a 15-month-old baby who was in foster care. Beauvais earned a Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA) award.

In 2019, Beauvais earned a Pueblo Library Woman of the Year award, and in 2018, she was recognized with a Pueblo County non-uniformed Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award.

Beauvais spoke about her deep roots in Pueblo in her appeal to voters.

"I was born and raised in Pueblo, and I'm raising children here, I have a significant interest in making this community as safe as it can be," she said. "I'd like to see a booming, bustling community where people want to come here, and where people aren't afraid that their vehicle isn't going to be broken into in the parking lot, and it's not so scary to let your kids out to play- I have a significant interest in making the community that way again."

Questions, comments, or story tips? Contact Justin at jreutterma@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter@jayreutter1. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Kala Beauvais running to replace Chostner as Pueblo district attorney