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Honorable Steve Leben
Judge of the Court of Appeals 2007-

After serving nearly 14 years as a district judge in Johnson County, Steve Leben joined the Court of Appeals in June 2007.  At the time of his appointment, Leben was serving as president of the American Judges Association and was teaching a course at the University of Kansas School of Law.

Throughout his career, Leben has been dedicated to both expanding and generating scholarship on the development of law, procedure, and legal ethics.  In addition to 13 published articles, Leben has served as editor of Court Review, a national journal for judges, since 1998.  The National Center for State Courts recognized him for his contributions to the administration of justice nationally by giving him its national Distinguished Service Award in 2003.  He also edits the practice manual on Kansas family law published by the Kansas Bar Association, in addition to writing one of its chapters.  The Kansas Bar Association gave him its outstanding Service Award in 2000 and named him the Outstanding Young Lawyer in Kansas in 1993.

Leben has presented lectures to lawyers in Kansas and at national and international conferences.  He has taught a course on statutory interpretation to law students at both the University of Kansas and University of Missouri-Kansas City law schools.  He is a past president of the Kansas City Chapter of the University of Kansas Alumni Association and presently serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the KU Law Alumni Association.

Before becoming a judge, Leben practiced law for 11 years in the Kansas city area—six  years with the firm of Stinson, Mag & Fizzell (now Stinson Morrison Hecker LLP) and another five years in solo practice.  His practice included general civil litigation, administrative law, personal-injury litigation, and family law.  As a district judge, Leben's docket included civil, criminal, and family-law cases.  He presided over two high-profile murder cases that were covered by the national news media. 

Leben served for seven years on the Board of Governors of the Kansas Bar Association and for 13 years on the Board of Editors of the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association, including three years as vice chair.  He also served as a member of the Kansas Justice Commission during its existence from 1997 to 1999, including chairing one of its five committees and presiding over  public hearings in the Kansas City area.

Leben was born in Eureka, Kansas, on June 23, 1956.  He grew up in El Dorado, where he was covaledictorian at El Dorado High School in 1974.  He obtained a B.S. degree with distinction in journalism from the University of Kansas in 1978; he served as student body president in 1977.  Leben worked briefly in Washington, D.C., as the press secretary to Kansas Congressman Bob Whittaker before returning to KU, where he received his law degree in 1982.  While at KU Law, Leben was an associate editor of the Kansas Law Review; he was an Order of the Coif graduate.

Judge Leben lives in Fairway with his wife, Dr. Ann Warner.  He has three adult stepchildren.

Published Opinions authored by Judge Leben:

• 107186 -- State v. Davis
• 106906 -- Ramcharan-Maharajh v. Gilliland
• 106470 -- Hague v. Hallmark Cards, Inc.
• 105188 -- Bolton v. Kansas Dept. of Revenue
• 105558 -- State v. Parker
• 105147 -- Uhlmann v. Richardson
• 104949 -- Deeds v. Waddell & Reed Invest. Mgmt. Co.
• 104909 -- State v. Williams
• 104489 -- State v. Warren
• 104458 -- J.A. Tobin Construction Co. v. Williams
• 104429 -- Bell v. State
• 104161 -- In re Protests of Oakhill Land Co.
• 103700 -- Rost v. McKune
• 103609 -- Hardaway v. Larned Correctional Facility
• 103560 -- State v. Braun
• 103533 -- Wells Fargo Bank v. Eastham
• 103394 -- Merryield v. State
• 103352 -- Bloom v. FNU Arnold
• 103262 -- Sauls v. McKune (MODIFIED OPINION - filed May 09, 2011)
• 103262 -- Sauls v. McKune (ORIGINAL OPINION - filed August 27, 2010)
• 103089 -- State v. Urista
• 102917 -- State v. Weilert
• 102881 -- Wheatland Electric Cooperative v. Polansky
• 102789 -- Graham v. Herring
• 102741 -- State v. Barriger
• 102724 -- State v. Dillon (filed June 17, 2011)
• 102724 -- State v. Dillon (filed December 3, 2010)
• 102629 -- Moreland v. Perkins (concurring)
• 102527 -- State v. Cummings (dissenting)
• 102359 -- M West, Inc. v. Oak Park Mall (concurring and dissenting)
• 102511 -- Louisburg Building & Development Co. v. Albright
• 102286 -- State v. Black 1999 Lexus ES300
• 102071 -- State v. Reiss
• 101964 -- Merryfield v. Kansas Dept. of SRS
• 101912 -- State v. Sanchez-Loredo
• 101846 -- State v. McMillan
• 101818 -- State v. Diaz
• 101854 -- Walder v. Board of Jackson County Comm'rs
• 101804 -- Hartman v. City of Mission
• 101690 -- Via Christi Regional Medical Center, Inc. v. Reed, et al.
• 101648 -- In re Tax Exemption Application of Kouri Place
• 101624 -- State v. Sawyer
• 101619 -- Dia v. Oakley
• 101530 -- State v. Hernandez (concurring)
• 101285 -- State v. Torres
• 101263 -- State v. Karson
• 101104 -- In re E.F.
• 101078 -- State v. Mattox
• 100988 -- Scheidt v. Teakwood Cabinet & Fixtures
• 100893 -- L.E.H. v. Kansas Dept. of SRS
• 100814 -- Barbury v. Duckwall Alco Stores and Liberty Mutual Ins.
• 100780 -- In re Marriage of Wilson
• 100741 -- Herrera-Gallegos v. H & H Delivery Service, Inc.
• 100566 -- State v. Alexander
• 100531 -- State v. Reese
• 100494 -- State v. Coman (Dissenting)
• 100248 -- Fischer v. State (Dissenting)
• 99755 -- State v. Hoffman
• 99535 -- Gutierrez v. Dold Foods, Inc.
• 99213 -- State v. Bowlin (Concurring)
• 99206 -- Frank v. Kansas Dept. of Agriculture
• 99169 -- Wilkinson v. State
• 99086 -- Washington v. Werholtz
• 99065 -- Adams v. Ball's Food Stores
• 99028 -- Moll v. State (Concurring and Dissenting)
• 98989 -- Lewis v. R & K Ranch
• 98966 -- Hemphill v. Ford Motor Co.
• 98876 -- State v. Kirk
• 98868 -- In re Metcalf Assocs.-2000
• 98856 -- State v. Urban
• 98835 -- In re A.A.
• 98763 -- State v. Boyer
• 98762 -- Alliance Steel, Inc. v. Piland (Dissenting)
• 98725 -- State v. Mell (Concurring and Dissenting)
• 98646 -- Rucker Properties v. Friday
• 98611 -- State v. Anderson
• 98489 -- Landmark National Bank v. Kesler
• 98442 -- Kuxhausen v. Tillman Partners
• 98354 -- Price v. Kansas Department of SRS
• 98352 -- In re Estate of Lane
• 98329 -- In re A.F.
• 98292 -- State v. Dana Wayne Deal (Concurring)
• 98258 -- Halford v. Nowak Constuction (Concurring)
• 98192 -- State v. Zeit
• 98161 -- State v. Bordeaux
• 98025 -- Katzenmeier v. Oppenlander (Concurring)
• 97943 -- State v. Sims
• 97929 -- In re A.F.
• 97847 -- Osterhaus v. Toth (Dissenting)
• 97826 -- Campbell v. Hubbard
• 97671 -- Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co. V. Rooney
• 97643 -- State v. Wagner - (Concurring)
• 97548 -- State v. Wenzel
• 97488 -- McCabe v. Duran
• 97452 -- Exchange State Bank v. Kansas Bankers Surety Co.
• 97447 -- State v. Morlock (Dissenting)
• 97407 -- State v. Foster
• 97254 -- Stephen v. Phillips County
• 97251 -- State v. Jeffery
• 97237 -- State v. Edwards
• 97232 -- Hale v. Brown
• 97062 -- Hodges v. Johnson (Dissenting)
• 96804 -- State v. Watkins
• 96563 -- State v. Dukes
• 96104 -- State v. Lawrence
• 95508 -- In re Marriage of Takusagawa
• 94578 -- State v. Jackson