Honorable Karen Arnold-Burger
Judge of the Court of Appeals 2011-

Karen Arnold-Burger was born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1957. In 1975, she graduated from Shawnee Mission North High School. Following high school, she attended Johnson County Community College for 1 year before beginning her undergraduate studies at the University of Kansas. In January 1979, she graduated with distinction from the University of Kansas with degrees in Political Science, Psychology and Personnel Administration. While at KU, she was awarded the Sunflower State Award for the outstanding woman majoring in political science. She received her J.D. from the University of Kansas in August 1981.

Judge Arnold-Burger served as First Assistant City Attorney for the City of Overland Park before accepting a position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Kansas City, Kansas. She was appointed to the Overland Park Municipal Court in 1991, and was appointed Presiding Judge of that court in 1996. Governor Mark Parkinson appointed her to the Court of Appeals on January 6, 2011.

Judge Arnold-Burger has served as President of the Johnson County Bar Association, the Kansas Municipal Judges Association, and the Earl E. O'Connor Inn of Court. She currently serves on the Executive Board of the NCSCJ, a section within the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association. She has been an adjunct faculty member at the National Judicial College since 2000, and was elected by her fellow faculty members to serve on the Faculty Council beginning in 2010. She is a graduate of the Institute for Faculty Excellence in Judicial Education at the University of Memphis and is a frequent presenter at judicial programs nationwide. In 2006, she was awarded the Justinian Award for Professional Excellence by the Johnson County Bar Association. The award is given annually to an attorney who exemplifies integrity, service to the community and service to the legal profession.

She and her spouse have three grown children.

Opinions authored by Judge Arnold-Burger:

• 105949 -- Craig v. Val Energy, Inc.
• 105863 -- State v. Rickerson
• 105585 -- In re C.E.
• 105152 -- In re Marriage of Hohmann
• 104995 -- City of Mulvane v. Henderson
• 104748 -- Freebird, Inc. v. Cimarex Energy Co
• 104457 -- Dexter v. Brake
• 104342 -- Crone v. Nuss
• 104222 -- State v. Perry-Coutcher
• 104115 -- State v. Stevenson
• 103969 -- State v. Long
• 103566 -- State v. Flynn
• 103038 -- McDaniel v. Southwestern Bell, Inc.