United States District Court for the District of Kansas

• Court
• Judges

District of Kansas Tenth Circuit Chief: Kathryn Vratil Judges: 5 Posts: 6 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Melgren • Marten • Murguia • Robinson Senior Judges Belot • Crow • Lungstrum • Rogers Magistrate Judges Humphreys • Bostwick • O'Hara • Rushfelt • Sebelius • Waxse Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the District of Kansas is a U.S. district court.

The United States Attorney for the District of Kansas represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The first United States Attorney for the District of Kansas was appointed June 29, 1854 by Franklin Pierce.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the District of Kansas's vacancy warning level is currently set at yellow. The court currently has one vacancy out of their six posts, constituting 16% of their seats. There are no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of Kansas (click for larger map)

The jurisdiction of the District of Kansas consists of all the counties in the state of Kansas.

The court's headquarters are in Wichita, with courthouses in Kansas City and Topeka.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown Denver at the Byron White Federal Courthouse.

Cases heard

The District of Kansas has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	1975	2200	4175	2308	1867	10.1	8.7	104(7.1%)	0	29
2009	2018	2172	4190	2201	1989	11.2	9.2	61(4%)	0	32
2008	1983	2187	4170	2143	2027	8.8	8.8	127(8.6%)	6.8	29
2007	1896	2293	4189	2197	1992	8.0	8.6	134(9.3%)	0	28
2006	2041	2300	4341	2464	1877	8.3	9.5	125(9%)	0	33

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The District of Kansas has three separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, excluding Federal holidays. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number	Email
Kansas City Division	500 State Ave. 259 U.S. Courthouse Kansas City, Kansas 66101	(913) 735-2200	ksd_clerks_kansascity@ksd.uscourts.gov
Topeka Division	444 S.E. Quincy 490 U.S. Courthouse Topeka, Kansas 66683	(785) 338-5400	ksd_clerks_topeka@ksd.uscourts.gov
Wichita Division	401 N. Market 204 U.S. Courthouse Wichita, Kansas 67202	(316) 315-4200	ksd_clerks_wichita@ksd.uscourts.gov

History

Court history

The District of Kansas was established by Congress on January 29, 1861 with one post to cover the entire state. Over time 5 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 6 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Kansas:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
January 29, 1861	12 Stat. 126	1
October 16, 1945	59 Stat. 545	2(1 temporary)
1946	Temporary post expired	1
August 3, 1949	63 Stat. 493	2
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	3
March 18, 1966	80 Stat. 75	4(1 temporary)
June 2, 1970	84 Stat. 294	4
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	5
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	6(1 temporary)

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Opinions for the District of Kansas.

• Kansas abortion clinic regulations  Judge(s):Carlos Murguia

On July 1, 2011, Judge Carlos Murguia issued a temporary restraining order blocking the enforcement of a new Kansas law which outlined requirements for licensing abortion clinics. The justification for the temporary injunction came from the short time frame the state provided clinics to come into compliance with new, strict regulations. The state issued the requirements only two weeks before the clinics had to be in compliance, leaving little time for the clinics to make the major changes required. Clinics argued that the abortion regulations are overbearing, with one group arguing that the law would require them to virtually get their building and rebuild it. They argued that the licensing regulations and the time line were simply an attempt on the part of the governor and the state to criminalize abortion in Kansas. However, abortion opponents argued that the clinics are currently unsafe and "cite instances of poor medical care, including the case of an abortion doctor in Kansas City, Kan., who lost his license in 2005 after state inspectors found an unclean facility and improperly stored medical supplies."

• Government grant scam  Judge(s):Julie Robinson

Judge Robinson on July 22, 2009 ordered the assets of five Kansas companies frozen over their involvement in a government grant scam. The judge ordered the asset freeze after the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit to stop the companies from allegedly deceiving customers into paying for help to obtain non-existent government grants. Prospective customers were sent postcards to buy a grant kit which costs $69 and were called by a telemarketer to purchase additional grant research.

• David Wittig case  Judge(s):Julie Robinson      *USA v. Weidner, et al - David C. Wittig 5:2002-cr-40140

Judge Robinson presided over the case of David Wittig, the former CEO of Westar Energy in 2009. Wittig was found guilty of bank fraud in 2003 when the former CEO extended a $1.5 million loan to Topeka banker Clinton Odell Weidner for a property deal in Arizona. Judge Robinson ruled on that Wittig could be released from prison on September 4, 2009, despite a resolution from federal prosecutors to keep Wittig in jail over a unrelated case awaiting trial.

Federal courthouse

Robert J. Dole Courthouse

The Robert J. Dole Courthouse is located at 500 State Avenue in Kansas City, Kansas.

Frank Carlson Federal Building

The Frank Carlson Federal Building is located at 444 S.E. Quincy, Topeka, Kansas.

Wichita U.S. Courthouse

The Wichita U.S. Courthouse is located at 401 N. Market in Wichita, Kansas.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Kansas judicial news.

State Supreme Court nominating commission

• At this point, lawyers elected by the state bar to the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission can participate in the selection process of Kansas Supreme Court justices. In August 2010, four Kansas voters have asked the U.S. District Court in Kansas to stop this practice. The group’s lead attorney, James Bopp Jr., asked the court to issue a restraining order and temporary injunction on the grounds the selection process violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. Bopp says it denies ordinary Kansas voters an equal voice in selecting justices for the Kansas Supreme Court.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the District of Kansas Official Website
• United States Attorney for the District of Kansas Official Website

References

District of Kansas Tenth Circuit Chief: Kathryn Vratil Judges: 5 Posts: 6 Vacancies: 1 Active judges Melgren • Marten • Murguia • Robinson Senior Judges Belot • Crow • Lungstrum • Rogers Magistrate Judges Humphreys • Bostwick • O'Hara • Rushfelt • Sebelius • Waxse Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the District of Kansas has 6 posts and 1 vacancy. The current Chief Judge is Kathryn Vratil. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Chief Judge Kathryn Vratil	1949	Manhattan, KS	H.W. Bush	10/9/1992 - Present	2008 - Present	Earl O'Connor	U. of Kansas, B.A., 1971	U. of Kansas Law, J.D., 1975
Judge John Marten	1951	Topeka, KS	Clinton	1/4/1996 - Present		Patrick Kelly	Washburn U., B.A., 1973	Washburn U. Law, J.D., 1976
Judge Carlos Murguia	1957	Kansas City, KS	Clinton	9/22/1999 - Present		Sam Crow	U. of Kansas, B.S., 1979	U. of Kansas Law, J.D., 1982
Judge Eric Melgren	1956	Minneola, KS	W. Bush	10/6/2008 - Present		Monti Belot	Wichita State U., B.A., 1979	Washburn U. Law, J.D., 1985
Judge Julie Robinson	1957	Omaha, NB	W. Bush	12/31/2001 - Present		George VanBebber	U. of Kansas, B.S., 1978	U. of Kansas Law, J.D., 1981

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the District of Kansas has 4 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Richard D. Rogers	Ford	8/5/1975 - 1/1/1989		1/1/1989 - Present	Kansas State U., B.S., 1943	U. of Kansas Law, J.D., 1947
Senior Judge Monti Belot	H.W. Bush	11/25/1991 - 3/4/2008		3/4/2008 - Present	U. of Kansas, B.A., 1965	U. of Kansas Law, J.D., 1968
Senior Judge Sam Crow	Reagan	12/10/1981 - 11/15/1996		11/15/1996 - Present	U. of Kansas, B.A., 1949	Washburn U. Law, J.D., 1952
Senior Judge John Lungstrum	H.W. Bush	11/5/1991 - 11/2/2010	2001 - 2007	11/2/2010 - Present	Yale University, B.A., 1967	University of Kansas School of Law, J.D., 1970

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate judge David Waxse
Magistrate judge Gary Sebelius
Magistrate judge Gerald Rushfelt
Magistrate judge James O'Hara
Magistrate judge Donald Bostwick
Magistrate judge Karen Humphreys		University of Kansas, 1970	University of Kansas School of Law, 1973
Magistrate judge Kenneth Gale		Loyola University, New Orleans, B.A. 1977	Washburn U. Law, 1980

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
George VanBebber	1995 - 2000
Frank Theis	1977 - 1981
Arthur Stanley	1961 - 1971
Earl O'Connor	1981 - 1992
Arthur Mellott	1948 - 1957
Patrick Kelly	1992 - 1995
Delmas Hill	1957-1961
John Lungstrum	2001 - 2007
Wesley Brown	1971 - 1977

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. Wesley Brown
2. Mark W. Delahay
3. Archibald Williams
4. Cassius Gaius Foster
5. William Cather Hook
6. John Calvin Pollock
7. George Thomas McDermott
8. Richard Joseph Hopkins
9. Guy Helvering
10. Delmas Hill
11. Patrick Kelly
12. Arthur Mellott
13. Earl O'Connor
14. Dale Saffels
15. Arthur Stanley
16. Henry Templar
17. Frank Theis
18. George VanBebber