05/27/2026
Welcome to the first KDIAI Member Spotlight!
Rumi Mamenari Delgado is a forensic scientist in the Crime Scene Investigation Section at the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office Criminalistics Laboratory, where she has worked for over four years. She is a Certified Crime Scene Investigator through the International Association for Identification (IAI). She is also the Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS) CSI section coordinator and a member of the Training and Education Committee.
Rumi received the MAFS New Scientist Award in 2024 and is the recipient of the 2025 Johnson County Sheriff's Office Civilian of the Year. In addition, she is a board member of Kansas Division of the International Association for Identification.
Rumi is also a member of the JCSO’s L.E.A.D.E.R (Law Enforcement Advocates for Diversity and Equal Representation) Team and an adjunct instructor at local universities. She also enjoys conducting trainings for local law enforcement agencies and JCSO deputies. Her passion for forensics doesn’t stop in the United States; she has started collaborating with police agencies in Japan and Honduras to help improve the quality of forensic techniques internationally.
Prior to her current role, she worked as a forensic scientist in the extraction section of the toxicology department at Quest Diagnostics, where she was promoted to group lead. She graduated from Kansas Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and a minor in Sociology in 2016. In 2019, she completed her Master of Science in Forensic Science at Emporia State University.
Q&A:
What do you love about your job? Why did you want to become a forensic scientist?
"I love being able to work with various people outside of the lab! I wanted to become a forensic scientist to help people and to see the results of my work."
What is one piece of advice you would give someone looking to work in the field?
"Be open minded. You may have to work somewhere far away from your family or start at a private company before getting a government job."
What are some fun facts about you?
"Only eighty people have my maiden name, I own a tricolor Corgi, and I'm from Japan!"
