Kenneth M. Hoyt (born March 2, 1948)[1] is a United States federal judge.
Born in San Augustine County, Texas, Hoyt received an A.B. from Texas Southern University in 1969 and a J.D. from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 1972. He was in private practice in Houston, Texas from 1972 to 1985. He was a city attorney of Kendleton, Texas from 1975 to 1981, and then of Prairie View, Texas. Hoyt served as a presiding judge of the 125th Civil District Court of Texas from 1981 to 1982. At the same time, Hoyt was a member of the faculty of the South Texas College Trial Advocacy Program, and from 1983 to 1984, he was an adjunct professor at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was a justice of the First District Court of Appeals of Texas from 1985 to 1988.
On November 24, 1987, Hoyt was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas vacated by Carl O. Bue, Jr.. Hoyt was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 31, 1988, and received his commission on April 1, 1988. Hoyt was the first African American federal judge in the state of Texas.