Michael O'Neal

Michael O'Neal (born January 16, 1951) is an American lawyer and Republican politician from Hutchinson, Kansas. He served as the Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives until 2013.

Early life and education

O'Neal was adopted as an infant by Ralph and Margaret O’Neal, a farm family from Manning, Kansas, near Scott City, Kansas. An only child, O'Neal lived on the farm until he was four. O'Neal’s father had been farming with his father and a brother but decided to give up farming and the family moved to Colby, Kansas for a short time before moving to Scott City, where Ralph made a living in bread sales and owned and operated a home delivery dairy business. O'Neal attended public schools from kindergarten through high school in Scott City. O'Neal graduated #2 in his class at Scott Community High School in 1969.

O'Neal went to college on a National Science Foundation scholarship, attending the University of Kansas from 1969–1973, where he earned a B.A. in English and was accepted into the University of Kansas School of Law. During his second and third year of law school, O'Neal interned with the Office of Legislative Counsel. There he was involved in writing Supreme Court briefs on the Legislature’s behalf in such landmark cases as Brown v. Wichita State University and Leek v. Theis. In his third year of law school O'Neal was Co-Chairman of Moot Court Council. O'Neal earned his J.D. degree at KU in 1976 and moved to Hutchinson, Kansas where he has practiced law for nearly 30 years. O'Neal has been active in the Reno County Republican Party, first as a precinct committeeman, then as a member of the Executive Committee of the county party.