Who appointed Earl Eugene O'Connor?

President Richard M. Nixon appointed Earl Eugene O'Connor to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in 1971.

Was Earl Eugene O'Connor appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?

Earl Eugene O'Connor was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.

What was Earl Eugene O'Connor's confirmation vote?

Earl Eugene O'Connor was confirmed by voice vote on October 28, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.

District of Kansas / Appointed 1971 / Served to 1998

Earl Eugene O'Connor

Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas

Appointed by President Richard M. Nixon in 1971 and confirmed by voice vote, Earl Eugene O'Connor was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. He earned a law degree from University of Kansas School of Law in 1950. Sources ↓

Lived: 1922–1998
Appointed by: Richard M. Nixon, 1971
Confirmed: by voice vote
Chief judge: District of Kansas, 1981 to 1992
Education: University of Kansas 1948 · University of Kansas Law 1950
Succeeded: Arthur Jehu Stanley Jr.
Succeeded by: Kathryn Hoefer Vratil

Federal judicial service

Year	Court	Appointed by	Vote
1971	District of Kansas succeeded Arthur Jehu Stanley Jr. chief judge 1981 to 1992	Nixon (R)	Voice vote

Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.

Confirmation vote

Voice vote

The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.

Education

University of Kansas	B.S.	1948
University of Kansas School of Law	LL.B.	1950

Before the bench

Professional career before and outside the federal bench, as recorded by the Federal Judicial Center.

U.S. Army	1942-1946
Private practice, Mission, Kansas	1950-1951
Assistant county attorney, Johnson County, Kansas	1951-1953
Judge, Johnson County [Kansas] Probate and Juvenile Courts	1953-1955
Judge, Kansas District Court, Johnson County	1955-1965
Justice, Kansas Supreme Court	1965-1971
Member, Judicial Conference of the United States	1988-1991

Judicial Record

Caseload & case types

In our data, O'Connor was assigned 1,009 district-court cases (1976–1998). Median time from filing to termination: 287 days across 1,009 closed cases.

Contract22%

Civil rights21%

Personal-injury torts18%

Prisoner & habeas10%

Other federal statutes7%

Labor & ERISA7%

Other17%

Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.

Questions & answers

Who appointed Earl Eugene O'Connor?: President Richard M. Nixon appointed Earl Eugene O'Connor to the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas in 1971.
Was Earl Eugene O'Connor appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?: Earl Eugene O'Connor was appointed by President Richard M. Nixon, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
What was Earl Eugene O'Connor's confirmation vote?: Earl Eugene O'Connor was confirmed by voice vote on October 28, 1971. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
Which court was Earl Eugene O'Connor on?: Earl Eugene O'Connor was a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.

Sources

Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.

How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources

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27 years on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. Data as of 2026-09-28. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).