Kathryn Hoefer Vratil (born April 21, 1949) is a senior United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

Education and career

Born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, Vratil received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...

in 1971 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from the

University of Kansas School of Law The University of Kansas School of Law is the law school of the University of Kansas, a public research university in Lawrence, Kansas. The University of Kansas Law School was founded in 1893, replacing the earlier Department of Law, which had exi ...

in 1975. She was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

for Judge

Earl Eugene O'Connor Earl Eugene O'Connor (October 6, 1922 – November 29, 1998) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Education and career Born in Paola, Kansas, Paola, Kans ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas from 1975 to 1978. She was in private practice in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

, Kansas from 1978 to 1992. She was a judge on the Municipal Court of the City of Prairie Village, Kansas from 1990 to 1992.

Federal judicial service

On July 28, 1992, Vratil was nominated by President

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

to a seat on the

vacated by

. She was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on October 8, 1992, and received her commission on October 9, 1992. She became chief judge in 2008 and served in that capacity until she assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on April 22, 2014.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vratil, Kathryn Hoefer 1949 births Living people Kansas state court judges Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas United States district court judges appointed by George H. W. Bush 20th-century American judges University of Kansas alumni People from Manhattan, Kansas University of Kansas School of Law alumni 21st-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 21st-century American women judges