David Gregory Kays

David Gregory Kays
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2014
Preceded by	Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.
Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Incumbent
Assumed office June 19, 2008
Appointed by	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Dean Whipple
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 61–62) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Alma mater	Missouri State University (B.S.) University of Arkansas School of Law (J.D.)

David Gregory Kays (born 1962) is the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Kays received a B.S. from Southwest Missouri State University (now Missouri State University) in 1985 and a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1987. He was in private practice in Missouri from 1988 to 1989. He was an assistant public defender in the Office of the Special Public Defender for Springfield, Missouri in 1989. He worked in the Prosecuting Attorney's Office for Laclede County, Missouri, from 1988 to 1995, first as an assistant prosecuting attorney from 1988 to 1989, then as a chief assistant prosecuting attorney from 1989 to 1991, and finally as a prosecuting attorney from 1991 to 1995. He was an adjunct faculty at Drury University from 1991 to 2004. He was an associate circuit judge for Laclede County from 1995 to 2004, and was a presiding judge for the Twenty-sixth Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri from 2005 to 2008.

On November 15, 2007, Kays was nominated by President George W. Bush to a seat on the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri vacated by Dean Whipple. Kays was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 10, 2008, and received his commission on June 19, 2008.

Sources

• David Gregory Kays at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

Legal offices
Preceded by Fernando J. Gaitan Jr.	Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri 2014–present	Incumbent
Preceded by Dean Whipple	Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri 2008–present