Evelyn Wilson
Evelyn Zabel Wilson is a former justice of the Kansas Supreme Court.
Education
Wilson graduated from Bethany College in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in business and from Washburn [University School of Law] in 1985.
Career
Wilson practiced law for 19 years in private practice. Her experience includes time as a managing partner, and time as an adjunct professor at Washburn University School of Law.
Judicial career
She served Shawnee County as a District Judge from 2004 until her appointment as Chief Judge in 2014. She was reappointed Chief Judge in 2017.
Wilson was one of seventeen applicants to apply for the position. On October 19, 2019, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission submitted Wilson's name, along with two others to the Governor. On December 16, 2019, Governor Laura Kelly appointed Wilson to the seat on the Kansas Supreme Court vacated by the retirement of Lee A. Johnson on September 8, 2019. She was sworn in on January 24, 2020. She resigned on July 4, 2025.
Personal
A native Kansan, Wilson was born in Smith Center, Kansas. Wilson and her husband, Mike, are members of First Lutheran Church in Topeka, where she also serves as a Stephen Minister. Wilson was diagnosed with ALS at some point prior to her resignation from the Kansas Supreme Court in 2025.