Qualifications

            On August 29, 2023, Kristina “Kris” Raynes was sworn in as Putnam County’s first female prosecuting attorney. Kris ran unopposed in 2024 and was elected as Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney for a four-year term. Prior to that, Kris was an assistant prosecutor in Putnam County since 2008. She has handled a variety of cases ranging from drug cases to aggravated felonies and murders.  Kris specializes in handling child abuse and high-profile cases.

Kris is a 1992 graduate of Buffalo-Putnam High School and a 1996 graduate of Marshall University.  She attended the University of Akron School of Law where she participated in their nationally recognized mock trial team and graduated in 2000.  She began her career in the Summit County Prosecutor’s Office in Akron, Ohio where she handled hundreds of felony cases and even tried a death penalty aggravated murder case in 2004. In 2006, Kris moved back home to West Virginia and took a position as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia handling high-intensity federal drug cases. 

            For years, Kris has instructed social workers and law enforcement officers on legal issues, investigative techniques, and courtroom testimony involving the forensic interviewing of abused children for ChildFirst© in West Virginia. She also has instructed prosecutors in West Virginia and nationwide on behalf of the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Institute (WVPAI) and the National District Attorneys Association (NDAA). She previously has presented at national NDAA trainings in San Diego, California, Anchorage, Alaska, Salt Lake City, Utah, Phoenix, Arizona, Chicago, Illinois and at the National Advocacy Center (NAC) in Columbia, South Carolina. She enjoys teaching new attorneys successful trial techniques, rules of evidence, and effective courtroom presentation.

For over five years, Kris was involved in Dress for Success River Cities, a non-profit organization which provides women reentering the workplace with career wardrobe, job skills training, and some necessary equipment to jumpstart their careers. She also served on the board for the West Virginia Housing Development Fund from 2020 to 2026. In 2017, Kris was honored to be recognized as the Putnam County Republican Woman of the Year and in 2020 as the James H. Caruthers Outstanding Republican of the Year. Until she ran for judge, she was a member of the Putnam County Republican Executive Committee and the Vice-Chair of the West Virginia Republican State Executive Committee.