Meet the District Attorney

Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus has devoted his professional career to upholding principles of justice, supporting the rights of victims and protecting public safety.

Mr. Andrus was born in Southern California and raised in Palo Alto and Boise, Idaho. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from the University of Utah in 1993 where he played basketball for the Runnin’ Utes and Coach Rick Majerus. After graduating from the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah in 1996, and passing the California Bar, he joined the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office for nine years of distinguished service. In Contra Costa, where he handled an extraordinary range of cases including domestic violence, sexual assault, murder and career criminal/three strikes cases, he tried nearly 50 jury trials including three members of the Nunez/Manning child abduction ring, the East Area Rapist, and a total of 6 defendants sentenced to life in prison for their crimes.

In 2005 the Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors sought to appoint to the Office of District Attorney after the former DA resigned.  Mr. Andrus was appointed from a statewide slate of candidates and became the youngest District Attorney in California when he took office on April 11, 2005.  In 2006 Andrus was elected to a new term as District Attorney, which was followed by re-election in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022.

Mr. Andrus was named to the Board of Directors for the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Shasta in 2017 and has served on the State Advisory Committee on Sexual Assault Victim Services (SAC) since 2015.  Also in 2017 Mr. Andrus finished a two-year term on the Board of Directors for the California District Attorney’s Association (CDAA).  He served on the Siskiyou Unified Major Investigations Team (SUMIT) Board after having served as its President from 2015-2017.  Mr. Andrus was a Board Member of the Community Services Counsel from 2005-2021 and served two terms as Board President.   Andrus formerly served as Vice President of Siskiyou Police Activity League (PAL) from 2005-2007, on the Siskiyou County Law Enforcement and Veteran’s Memorial Foundation Board from 2006-2007, was appointed statewide District Attorney representative to Campaign Against Marijuana Planting (CAMP) serving from 2007-2008 and on the Student and Family Enrichment (SAFE) Advisory Board supporting after school programs from 2007 to 2009. Andrus is also President of the Board for the Siskiyou Sexual Assault Response Team (SART), and was co-founder of the Siskiyou Animal Cruelty Prevention Task Force (Siskiyou Act).

In 2022 Mr. Andrus resigned as head varsity girls' basketball coach. For 14 years he had been head coach at Mt. Shasta High School, first of the boys then the girls' program.  His teams won six league titles and the 2016 Northern Section CIF championship. He has also been named Shasta Cascade League coach of the year five times. Andrus served as the Coach Representative to Athlete Committed, a program designed to maximize performance through applying correct physical, chemical, and competitive principles, administered to several local high schools through Behavioral Health Services. He was trained for this role by John Underwood, founder of Athlete Committed, at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center in New York and the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training outside of San Diego. Mr. Andrus is a frequent speaker and trainer for CDAA, local law enforcement, the Siskiyou Domestic Violence and Crisis Center, local schools, and other government and community groups.

Mr. Andrus and his wife, Heidi, a pharmacist by profession, are parents to six children.