Washburn to honor Chief Justice McFarland

TOPEKA—Chief Justice Kay McFarland is to receive the Washburn University School of Law Distinguished Alumni Award Saturday (June 10) at the law school's annual luncheon during the Kansas Bar Association meeting that is underway in Overland Park.

She is the first woman in the law school's history to receive the award. It is bestowed on those law school alumni "who have distinguished themselves and brought recognition to the school through exceptional accomplishments in their professional, business, or academic careers."

Chief Justice McFarland graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University with dual majors in English and History-Political Science. She is a 1964 graduate of Washburn law school and was admitted to the Kansas Bar the same year.

After graduation, she entered private practice in law. In 1971, she became the first woman to be elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County. During her two years as judge of the Probate and Juvenile Courts in Shawnee County, she reduced serious juvenile offenses by more than half.

In 1973, Chief Justice McFarland became the first woman to serve as a district court judge in the history of Kansas when she was elected judge of the Fifth Division of the Shawnee County District Court.

In September 1977, then Judge McFarland was appointed as a justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, the first woman to hold that office. She became the first woman chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court in 1995.