Harold S. Herd

Harold Shields Herd (June 3, 1918 – April 23, 2007) was a Kansas Supreme Court justice (1979–1993), minority leader in the Kansas State Senate (1969–1973), mayor of Coldwater, Kansas (1950–1954) and an officer in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

Herd was born in Comanche County, Kansas as the second child of J.J. Herd and Bernice Shields Herd.

Following graduation from Protection High School in 1936, Herd attended Southwestern College in Winfield, Kansas for two years lettering in football, track and debate. He subsequently transferred to Washburn University where he lettered in football and track. Herd received a BA degree in 1940 and a law degree in 1942. While at Washburn, he was a member of the Kansas Beta Chapter of Phi Delta Theta.

Herd was married for 67 years to Midge Herd. Together they had six children, 13 grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, plus 15 nieces and nephews. Herd’s son, James H. "Skip" Herd, is currently the county attorney for Comanche County, Oklahoma, a post Herd held roughly fifty years before.

Following graduation from Washburn Law School, Herd joined the war effort serving in the Pacific Theater as a naval officer on the USS Rio Grande and USS Cache. He left the Navy as a Lieutenant in 1946 and returned to his hometown to practice law. He was admitted to the bar that same year.

During the 1950s he served as mayor of Coldwater, Comanche County attorney, and then Coldwater City Attorney. In 1964, he ran for and won election to the Kansas State Senate as a Democrat and was Senate Minority Leader from 1969 to 1973. According to his obituary, “In all of these elected positions, he worked tirelessly in support of public education and the protection of individuals and their liberties from undue influence from the wealthy and powerful.”

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