Michael Jeffrey Hoelscher
Republican · KS · District Court Judge, Eighteenth Judicial District, Division 19
Michael Hoelscher is a Sedgwick County district judge assigned to juvenile cases, appointed in 2015. A Washburn law graduate, he was a prosecutor in the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office and then worked in the Wichita City Attorney's Office.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 4 records
Won re-election as Division 19 district judge without an opponent, getting 99,705 votes in the official count.
November 8, 2022
Source: sedgwickcounty.org
Won re-election as Division 19 district judge without an opponent, getting 111,151 votes (97.4%).
November 6, 2018
Source: sedgwick.gov
Missed a federal jury duty date in June 2015; a federal judge then dropped an order against him after his lawyer said state judges cannot serve on federal juries.
June 26, 2015
Source: digital-release.ksn.com
Won election as Sedgwick County district judge, Division 19, without an opponent, getting 91,079 votes (98.8%).
November 4, 2014
Source: sedgwickcounty.org
Track record — Impartiality
Impartiality · 1 favorable
Received a Wichita Bar Association lawyer survey in which 36 of 42 lawyers agreed he is fair and 38 of 42 agreed he is ethical.
July 26, 2018Favorable on Impartiality
Source: kansas.com
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 6 favorable
Worked as a prosecutor in the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office from 2002 to 2008, then in the Wichita City Attorney's Office until 2015.
October 6, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: dc18.org
Ended a father's parental rights to his baby daughter, finding him unfit; the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld his ruling.
November 15, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: kscourts.gov
Allowed a 15-year-old charged with first-degree murder to be tried as an adult; the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld his order.
September 20, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: searchdro.kscourts.gov
Ended a father's parental rights to his infant son in a child-welfare case; the Kansas Court of Appeals upheld his ruling.
April 21, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: kscourts.gov
Received a Wichita Bar Association lawyer survey in which 36 of 42 lawyers agreed he is fair and 38 of 42 agreed he is ethical.
July 26, 2018Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: kansas.com
Was named by the Kansas chief justice as the state's judge on the International Hague Network of Judges, which handles cases of parents taking children across borders.
July 12, 2017Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: kscourts.gov
Past race Michael Jeffrey Hoelscher ran in:
- District Court Judge, Eighteenth Judicial District, Division 19 (Sedgwick County) · November 3, 2026 · Sedgwick County, Kansas · incumbent