--- title: "Dean Whipple | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dean-whipple" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Dean Whipple U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri · U.S. District Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri - State: Missouri - Role: U.S. District Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Biography ### Professional career - Current Role: As of 2026, Judge Whipple remains a senior judge on the Western District of Missouri, recognized for his “hard-working,” “colorful,” and “no-nonsense” judicial style - Judge, District Court, W.D. Missouri, 1987-2007 - Harold Dean Whipple is a Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri, appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1987 and elevated to senior status in 2007 - Judge, Circuit Court of Missouri, Twenty-Sixth Judicial Circuit, 1975-1987 - From 1975 to 1987, Whipple held the role of a judge on Missouri’s 26th Judicial Circuit Court - His legal career began in private practice in Lebanon (1967–1974) and included service as Laclede County prosecutor (1967–1971) - Prosecutor, Laclede County, MO, 1967-1971 ### Education - He later received his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 1965. - Drury University — B.A. (1961) - Bachelor’s degree in business administration and economics from Drury University in 1961. ### Additional information - Chief Judge: Served 2000–2007 - Private practice, Lebanon, MO, 1967-1974 - Born April 3, 1938, in Lebanon, Missouri. - Date of birth: 1938-01-01 - Whipple’s early life included work in his father’s sheet metal business, operating a go-kart track, and serving as a forest firefighter. - He also served in the National Guard and Army Reserve during his academic years - Birth place: Lebanon, MO ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389676) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389676) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389676) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3443/dean-whipple/) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3443/dean-whipple/) - [Wikidata: Dean Whipple](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5246544) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dean-whipple", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/dean-whipple", "name": "Dean Whipple | KnowJudges", "description": "Dean Whipple, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. 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Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.