Karen M. Humphreys
How Judge Humphreys rules, drawn from 2 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Humphreys no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Humphreys
Karen M. Humphreys joined the District of Kansas as a United States Magistrate Judge in 1993 and later served as chief magistrate judge. Before her federal appointment, she served on the Kansas state bench in probate, juvenile, and district court positions. She has since retired.
How Judge Humphreys decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Utter v. Thompson, Humphreys held that an officer’s pre-employment psychological interview was a hiring evaluation rather than treatment and therefore was not protected by the psychotherapist privilege. She ordered disclosure of a fitness-for-duty recommendation while protecting the substance of post-incident counseling.
“Thompson's pre-employment interview with Dr. Davis was in the context of the police department's hiring evaluation, not in the context of treatment. Under the circumstances, the Jaffee psychotherapist-privilege simply does not apply. ... The doctor's recommendation of fitness for duty is not protected by any privilege and shall be disclosed by defendants to plaintiff.”
In Montes v. Mytty-Klein, Humphreys denied a renewed request to appoint counsel. The plaintiff's indigence and search for counsel favored appointment, but her review of the state civil-rights agency file suggested insufficient merit, and the plaintiff had shown he could present this case himself. She treated his criminal history as irrelevant to the appointment decision.
“At this time, plaintiff is found to be capable of presenting this non-complex case without the aid of counsel.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff's motion to compel (Doc. 140) is GRANTED IN PART and DENIED IN PART, consistent with the rulings herein.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that plaintiff's motion for appointment of counsel (Doc. 23) is DENIED.”
“IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that defendants' motion to continue mediation (Doc. 24) is GRANTED. Mediation in this case shall be held within sixty (60) days after the court rules on any dispositive motions.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
Median motion-to-ruling time: 3 days (N = 2).
Not exhaustively enumerated. Humphreys was a Wichita referral magistrate (later Chief Magistrate Judge) handling discovery and case management across the district judges' civil dockets, plus dispositive R&Rs on pro se / IFP and Social-Security matters.
A historical record
Judge Humphreys no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.