William A. Smith

Summary: This is a photograph of William Amos Smith, who served as Kansas' 26th Attorney General from January 10, 1927 to December 1, 1930. Smith was born December 31, 1888 in Valley Falls, Jefferson County, Kansas. He attended public schools there and Washburn University in Topeka, where he graduated from the law school in 1914. As a member of the Kansas National Guard, he was called to service during the Mexican border action in 1916. On his return he served briefly as Jefferson County attorney before returning to military service during World War I. After returning from the war, he was appointed assistant attorney for the Public Utilities Commission. For a brief period he was a commissioner for the Court of Industrial Relations and he became an assistant attorney general in 1922. He ran on the Republican ticket for Kansas Attorney General in 1926, then resigned in 1930 to become a justice on the Kansas Supreme Court. On March 1, 1956 he became the Chief Justice. He retired from the court in 1957 and died July 21, 1968 in Topeka, Kansas.