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Honorable Dan Biles
Justice, Kansas Supreme Court 2009-

Dan Biles was born August 12, 1952, in El Dorado, KS.  He became a justice in March 2009 after serving as a partner in the law firm of Gates, Biles, Shields & Ryan, P.A., Overland Park.  He joined the firm (formerly known as Gates & Clyde, Chartered) in 1985.  His practice emphasized administrative, trial, and appellate work on behalf of individuals, corporations, and various state and local government agencies.  Justice Biles represented the Kansas State Board of Education as its attorney from 1985 until his appointment to the Supreme Court.  He also served as general counsel for the Kansas Turnpike Authority.

Admitted to the Kansas Bar in April 1978, he is a graduate of the Washburn University School of Law and Kansas State University, where he received a BS in Journalism in1974.  Beginning in 1980, Justice Biles served five years as an Assistant Attorney General, Litigation Division.  Previously, he was a writer for the Associated Press in Topeka, reporting on legislative hearings and sessions, the Kansas Supreme Court, Governor’s office, various state agencies, and political and campaign activities.  He also has been an adjunct professor of law at the Washburn law school.

Among his professional organizations and activities, Justice Biles was on the board of directors of Community Living Opportunities Inc., a Kansas not-for-profit corporation serving more than 300 children and adults with severe developmental disabilities in residential, day programs and case management. He also served as an advisory board member of the Johnson County Housing Coalition, a Kansas not-for-profit organization providing low cost housing and affordable homeownership in Johnson County for low-income residents.  He is a member of Friends of the Schielfelbusch Life Span Institute, the largest of several research centers at the University of Kansas, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for persons of all ages, primarily those with disabilities. Justice Biles is a past chair of the National Council of State Education Attorneys, which is associated with the National Association of State Boards of Education, Washington, D.C.

Justice Biles and his wife, Amy McCart, Ph.D., who is an assistant research professor at the University of Kansas, Beach Center on Disability, are parents to three daughters.

Cases (those available online) before Justice Biles:

• 98023 -- Carrothers Construction Co. v. City of South Hutchinson
• 98750 -- Frick Farm Properties, L.P., v. State Dept. of Agriculture
• 99788 -- State v. Morningstar
• 99808 -- McAlister v. City of Fairway
• 100084 -- State v.Spotts