Kay Eleanor McFarland[1] (July 20, 1935 – August 18, 2015) was a chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
She was the first female elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County, Kansas, first appointed to the state supreme court, and first to hold the title of chief justice.
[2] In 1957, she graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University in Topeka with dual majors in English and history-political science.
[citation needed] In January 1973, she won election as judge of the newly created Fifth Division of the District Court in Topeka.
[5] On September 1, 1995 she became Kansas's first female chief justice, replacing the retiring Hon.