The Hon. Jay D. Befort is a judge for the 3rd Judicial District Court of Kansas in Shawnee County. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Laura Kelly in 2023, filling the vacancy created by the elevation of the Hon. Rachel Pickering to the Kansas Court of Appeals.
Prior to his appointment, Befort was general counsel for the Kansas Department of Revenue. During his tenure there, he also served as deputy general counsel and was a special assistant attorney general. Before that, he was general counsel for the Office of the State Bank Commissioner and managed his own private practice in Topeka. Befort also served as a former Assistant United States Bankruptcy Trustee and an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Kansas.
He received a bachelor’s degree in history from Fort Hays State University. Befort then completed a J.D. at Washburn University School of Law in 1991.
His memberships include the Topeka Bar Association and the Kansas Bar Association. He authored and published articles in the ABI Journal and has been a presenter for bar associations across Kansas, as well as the National Association of Attorneys General/States’ Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys and the Multistate Tax Commission. In addition, Befort has taught as an adjunct faculty member at Washburn University.
Befort, who was born in Hays, Kansas, and his wife have two grown daughters.