Biography:

      Kellie E. Hogan was sworn in as District Court Judge for Division 16 on April 24, 2020. A Wichita native, Judge Hogan is a graduate of Bishop Carroll Catholic High School. She earned her B.A. and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of Kansas. She is an active parishioner at St. Catherine of Siena.

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      Judge Hogan is well respected among her peers and is known for her good sense of humor, strong work ethic, and calm demeanor. She has dedicated herself to ensuring that Kansans have equal access to the justice system, especially lower income clientele. Her primary practice has been working on behalf of children whose parents are not able to provide care. Specifically, she has practiced in the areas of Child in Need of Care, Juvenile Offender, Guardianship, and Adoption. Judge Hogan has also practiced family law, protection from abuse, care and treatment law, social security disability law, and criminal defense. Finally, Judge Hogan has regularly served as a mediator in cases involving complaints filed with the Kansas Human Rights Commission alleging civil rights discrimination, employment discrimination, and housing discrimination.

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      Prior to her judicial appointment, Judge Hogan was the Assistant Managing Attorney at Kansas Legal Services, a non-profit law firm specializing in legal work for people who could not otherwise afford to hire an attorney. She served as the Director of Kin-Tech, a project of Kansas Legal Services which provides free legal representation to people providing care for children so that children don’t have to be placed in foster care to have their legal needs met.

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      In her 23-year legal career, Judge Hogan gained extensive trial experience throughout Kansas including bench and jury trials. Judge Hogan has completed over 900 adoptions, assisted almost 500 victims of domestic violence with obtaining protective orders, established guardianships for over 800 children and vulnerable adults, represented children, family members and foster parents in over 900 child in need of care cases.

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​      In 2014, she argued successfully before the Kansas Supreme Court on behalf of a Veteran and his wife who were foster parents.  The case stands for the principle that child in need of care cases need to be resolved without delay in child time.  The family paid $100 total for her representation before the District Court, Kansas Court of Appeals, and Kansas Supreme Court.

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      Beyond the courtroom, Judge Hogan is proud of her professional service where she implemented Regional Continuing Legal Education for juvenile court attorneys, trained new CASA volunteers on the role of the Guardian ad litem in juvenile court, recruited and supervised law student volunteers, mentored high school students, and served as the author of the Child in Need of Care Chapter of the Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Kansas Law.  Hogan is a frequent speaker on juvenile law, attorney ethics, and grandparent rights. 

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      An active Wichita Bar Association member since her return to Wichita in 1999, Judge Hogan served in leadership roles on numerous committees. Prior to her appointment, she served as Vice-Chair of the Ethics Committee.  A highlight of her service was her role as stage manager for the 2010, 2013, and 2016 Bar Shows. In 2017, she received a WBA President’s Award for her continuing work on the Clean Slate Expungement Project.

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      Hogan has a demonstrated commitment to the community.  She currently serves as Secretary of the Wichita Public Library Foundation Board.  Prior to joining the foundation, she served on the Board of Directors of the Wichita Public Library.  A highlight of the experience was serving as President of the Board when the new Advanced Learning Library opened in 2018.  She is a member of the Step Stone, Dear Neighbor Ministries Boards, and knitting for Project Linus, a non-profit providing handmade baby blankets to families in need.

          

  

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