Dale Emerson Saffels

Background

Saffels, Dale Emerson was born on August 13, 1921 in Moline, Kansas, United States. Son of Edwin Clayton and Lillian May (Cook) Saffels.

Education

Upon returning to the United States, Saffels graduated from Emporia State Teachers College (later Emporia State University) in 1947 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and business, and from Washburn University School of Law, with a Juris Doctor cum laude, in August 1949.

Career

He volunteered for the Army in 1942, during World World War II and was sworn-in on his twenty-first birthday. On February 19, 1943, Saffels was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army Signal Corps. Saffels was in private practice in Garden City, Kansas from 1949 to 1979.

A strong Democrat, he was elected Finney County in 1950 and reelected in 1952, serving from 1951 to 1955.

He was reelected four times, serving from 1955-1963, and was minority leader from 1961 to 1963. Saffels"s major legislative activities included supporting a retirement plan for state employees and making the Wichita University of Wichita into a state university.

Saffels was "an early advocate for public education television in Kansas." He also was a good government advocate, supporting election law reform, conflict of interest laws, and legislative reapportionment. In 1967, Docking appointed Dale to the Kansas Corporation Commission, which regulates utilities in the state.

Dale served on the commission from 1967 to 1975, chairing that body from 1968 to 1975.

Following this, Dale returned to private practice, in Topeka from 1971 to 1975, and in Wichita from 1975 to 1979. On September 28, 1979, Saffels was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Kansas created by the Omnibus Judicial Acting of 1978, 92 Statistics 1629. Saffels was strongly support by Kansas" United States. Senators, Robert J. Dole and Nancy Landon Kassebaum, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 31, 1979, and received his commission on November 2, 1979.

Saffels handled all the federal habeas corpus litigation in Kansas from 1980 to 1995, a total of 3,754 cases.

He assumed senior status on November 16, 1990, serving in that capacity until his death on November 14, 2002, at 81, in Topeka. He is buried in Moline, Kansas.

Achievements

• Dale Emerson Saffels has been listed as a reputable federal judge by Marquis Who's Who.

Membership

Member board governors School Law Washburn University, 1973-1985. President Kansas Democratic Club, 1957. Democratic nominee Governor of Kansas, 1962.

Member Kansas House of Representatives, 1955-1963, minority leader, 1961-1963. Member Kansas Corporation Commission, 1967-1975, chairman, 1968-1975. Member Kansas Legislation Council, 1957-1963.

Kansas representative Interstate Oil Compact Commission, 1967-1975, 1st vice chairman, 1971-1972. President Midwest Association Regulatory Commission, 1972-1973, Midwest Association RailRoad and Utilities Commissioners, 1972-1973. Trustee Emporia State University Endowment Association.

Board directors National Association Regulatory Utility Commissioners, 1972-1975. Major Signal Corps United States Army, 1942-1946. Fellow American Bar Foundation, Kansas Bar Foundation.

Member American Bar Association, Kansas Bar Association, Wichita Bar association, American Judicture Society, Delta Theta Phi.

Connections

Son of; married Margaret Elaine Nieman, April 2, 1976. Children by previous marriage: Suzanne Saffels Gravitt, Deborah Saffels Godowns, James B. Stepchildren: Lynda Cowger Harris, Christopher Cowger.

Father:

Edwin Clayton Saffels

Mother:

Lillian May (Cook) Saffels

Spouse:

Margaret Elaine Nieman

child:

Christopher Cowger Saffels

child:

Lynda Cowger Harris Saffels