Earl Eugene O'Connor

Who was Earl Eugene O'Connor?

Earl Eugene O'Connor was a United States federal judge.

Born in Paola, Kansas, O'Connor was in the United States Army during World War II, from 1942 to 1946. He received a B.S. from the University of Kansas in 1948 and an LL.B. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1950. He was in private practice in Mission, Kansas from 1950 to 1951, and was then an assistant county attorney of Johnson County, Kansas from 1951 to 1953. He was a probate and juvenile court judge in Johnson County from 1953 to 1955, and then a district judge in Johnson County from 1955 to 1965. He served as a Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court from 1965 to 1971.

On October 19, 1971, O'Connor was nominated by President Richard Nixon to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Kansas vacated by Arthur J. Stanley, Jr.. O'Connor was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 28, 1971, and received his commission on November 1, 1971. He served as chief judge from 1981 to 1992, assuming senior status on March 1, 1992. O'Connor served in that capacity until his death, in 1998, in Mission, Kansas.