After losing a campaign for local school board, he was appointed a municipal court judge and two years later elected to the district court in Wichita.
[1] He first won election as state Attorney General in 1978 and was reelected three times in 1982, 1986, and 1990.
Following the end of his last term, Stephan moved to Lenexa, Kansas, and worked as a consultant in corporate law dealing in consumer protection and Federal Trade Commission regulations.
[2] In 2007, Stephan spoke in support of legalizing medical cannabis in Kansas.
[3] Stephan died on January 2, 2023, two weeks shy of his 90th birthday.