Kris W. Kobach

Kris W. Kobach has built a distinguished career defined by academic excellence, public service, and constitutional advocacy. Raised in Topeka, Kansas, he began his path at Washburn Rural High School and later became one of the nation’s leading voices on legal and governmental integrity. His extensive experience spans education, government, and litigation.

Kris earned his undergraduate degree in government from Harvard University, where he graduated summa cum laude and ranked first in his department. As a Marshall Scholar, he obtained his Ph.D. in politics from the University of Oxford before completing his J.D. at Yale Law School, where he served as notes development editor for the Yale Law Journal.

Kris began his legal career clerking for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and went on to teach constitutional law at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law. His service extended to the national stage when he received a White House Fellowship under President George W. Bush, working as Counsel to the Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice under John Ashcroft.

Kris later served as Kansas Secretary of State from 2011 to 2019 and was appointed by President Donald Trump to lead the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity. As an attorney, he has litigated nationally recognized cases, including challenges to federal policies and the defense of state laws against the ACLU.

Kris W. Kobach was elected as Kansas’s 45th Attorney General in 2022. In this role, he has personally argued landmark cases to uphold constitutional protections and challenge unlawful federal mandates. In 2024, his peers elected him Chairman of the Republican Attorney General Association, further underscoring his influence and leadership in national legal affairs.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney General, Attorney General’s Office, Kansas
• Member, Kansas Bar Association
• Former Professor, University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law
• Former Secretary of State, Kansas
• Chairman, Republican Attorney General Association

Licensed State

• Kansas

Education

• Yale Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• University of Oxford
  Ph.D. in Politics
• Harvard University
  BA in Government

Awards & Badges