Melodee Hanes is the spouse of Max Baucus, the U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Ms. Hanes previously served at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as the Acting Director of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and then as Acting Director of Communications for the Office of Justice Programs. She was first appointed to DOJ in June 2009 by President Barack Obama.

Ms. Hanes’ 30-year career in public service and law includes work as a deputy county attorney in the Yellowstone County Attorney’s Office in the U.S. state of Montana, prosecuting child abuse, sexual assault, and homicide cases. She also served as an assistant county attorney in the Polk County Attorney’s Office in the U.S. state of Iowa, prosecuting major felony crimes. Ms. Hanes prosecuted the first child endangerment case in Polk County and handled more than hundreds of child abuse and sexual assault prosecutions during her tenure. In 1999, Ms. Hanes published a handbook for prosecution of sexual assault crimes. She taught Child Abuse Law and Forensic Medicine and Law at Drake University Law School. In 1991, Ms. Hanes was appointed as chairperson of Iowa’s Special Infant Mortality Task Force, which led to the creation of the Infant Mortality Prevention Project through the state’s Department of Public Health. Ms. Hanes earned a bachelor’s degree in women’s studies from the University of Utah and a law degree from the Drake University Law School.