--- title: "Kathryn Hoefer Vratil | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kathryn-h-vratil" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Kathryn Hoefer Vratil U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas - State: Kansas - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, D. Kansas, 1992-2014 - She also held the role of Municipal Court Judge in Prairie Village, Kansas from 1990 to 1992 - Law clerk, Hon. Earl E. O'Connor, U.S. District Court, District of Kansas, 1975-1978 - She held the role of law clerk to Judge Earl E. O’Connor (U.S. District Court, D. Kan.) from 1975 to 1978, being O’Connor’s first female clerk - Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Kansas, the 23rd judge and first woman appointed to that court ### Education - a J.D. from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1975, where she was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Board of Editors of the Kansas Law Review. - Vratil obtained a B.A. from the University of Kansas in 1971 ### Additional information - Federal Judicial Center: Board member (2011–2015) and chaired the District Judge Education Advisory Committee (2006–2009) - She held the role of Chief Judge from 2008 until assuming senior status on April 22, 2014 - On July 28, 1992, President George H. W. Bush nominated Vratil to replace Earl E. O’Connor. - Private practice, Kansas City, KS, 1978-1992 - From 1978 to 1992, she practiced law in Kansas City, Kansas, and later in Kansas City, Missouri, specializing in commercial and business litigation. - Born April 21, 1949, in Manhattan, Kansas. - Date of birth: 1949-01-01 - Birth place: Manhattan, KS ## 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 ### courtroom technology Scope: judge specific Judge-specific source Evidence excerpt: Contact Jeff Hokanson, courtroom deputy, at 913-735-2207 with any questions. The courtroom is equipped with an advanced AV system that includes monitors for presentation of evidence at the bench, witness stand, counsel tables and jury box, an integrated document camera (ELMO) and HDMI ports at counsel tables to allow for the use of laptop computers… [Guidelines%20for%20Proceedings%20Before%20Judge%20Vratil%209-9-24.pdf](https://www.ksd.uscourts.gov/sites/ksd/files/Guidelines%20for%20Proceedings%20Before%20Judge%20Vratil%209-9-24.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-24 ### 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/1389216) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389216) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1389216) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/3331/kathryn-hoefer-vratil/) - [Guidelines%20for%20Proceedings%20Before%20Judge%20Vratil%209-9-24.pdf](https://www.ksd.uscourts.gov/sites/ksd/files/Guidelines%20for%20Proceedings%20Before%20Judge%20Vratil%209-9-24.pdf) - [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/3331/kathryn-hoefer-vratil/) - [Wikidata: Kathryn Hoefer Vratil](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6377053) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kathryn-h-vratil", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/kathryn-h-vratil", "name": "Kathryn Hoefer Vratil | KnowJudges", "description": "Kathryn Hoefer Vratil, U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. 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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.