Keith Gary Sebelius (born November 8, 1949), known professionally as K. Gary Sebelius or Gary Sebelius, is a former magistrate judge and a former federal judicial nominee to the

United States District Court for the District of Kansas The United States District Court for the District of Kansas (in case citations, D. Kan.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Kansas. The Court operates out of the Robert J. Dole United States Courthouse in Kansas Ci ...

. He is the husband of former

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...

Kathleen Sebelius Kathleen Sebelius (; née Gilligan, born May 15, 1948) is an American politician who served as the 21st United States secretary of health and human services from 2009 until 2014. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sebelius was instrumenta ...

and also served as the First Gentleman of

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

from 2003 to 2009, while his wife was governor.

Early life and education

Sebelius was born in

Norton, Kansas Norton is a city in and the county seat of Norton County, Kansas, Norton County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,747. History Norton was founded in 1872. Like the county ...

, the son of Elizabeth Adeline (née Roberts) and Keith George Sebelius, a United States congressman from Kansas. Sebelius earned a bachelor's degree magna cum laude from

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant coll ...

in 1971 and a J.D. degree from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

in 1974.

Professional career

Before becoming a judge, Sebelius had a long career as a lawyer in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

. He worked as an associate at the law firm of Eidson, Lewis, Porter & Haynes from 1974 until 1979, and then served as a partner at the firm from 1979 until 1989. From 1989 until 1993, Sebelius was a partner at the firm of Davis, Wright, Unrein, Hummer & McCallister. Sebelius then worked as a partner at the Topeka law firm Wright, Henson, Somers, Sebelius, Clark & Baker from 1993 until 2003. During his time in private practice, Sebelius became best known for defending the Topeka Board of Education in the reopened ''

Brown v. Board of Education ''Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka'', 347 U.S. 483 (1954), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the ...

'' case in federal court.

Failed nomination to district court

On June 6, 2000, President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

nominated Sebelius to be a judge on the

to fill the vacancy created by the decision by Judge George Thomas Van Bebber to take senior status. However, with the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

controlled by Republicans, many of Clinton's judicial nominations languished. In particular, Sebelius' nomination was reported to have been held up by Kansas Sen.

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

later successfully appointed

Julie A. Robinson Julie Ann Robinson (born January 14, 1957) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Education and career Born in Omaha, Nebraska, Robinson received a Bachelor of Science from the ...

to the seat to which Sebelius had been nominated.

Work as a U.S. magistrate judge

On August 16, 2002, the judges on the

appointed Sebelius to an eight-year term as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

. Sebelius began hearing cases in February 2003 and was formally sworn in on June 11, 2003. He retired from the bench on February 20, 2019.

Personal

Sebelius married his wife, Kathleen Sebelius on New Year's Eve 1974. They have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sebelius, Keith Gary 1949 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges First ladies and gentlemen of Kansas Georgetown University Law Center alumni Kansas lawyers Kansas State University alumni People from Norton, Kansas United States magistrate judges