Kenneth Winston Starr (July 21, 1946 – September 13, 2022) was an American lawyer, judge, and prominent figure in Republican politics. He is best known for his role as independent counsel investigating the Clinton administration from 1994 to 1998, which included the Whitewater real estate controversy, the death of White House counsel Vince Foster, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal. His 1998 Starr Report detailed allegations of perjury and obstruction of justice by President Bill Clinton, providing the basis for the 1998 impeachment proceedings, though Clinton was acquitted by the Senate. The investigation was highly controversial, criticized for its scope, partisanship, and intrusion into personal matters.

Born in Vernon, Texas, he grew up in small towns in the Texas panhandle, where his father was a barber and minister in the Churches of Christ. He earned degrees from Duke University and Duke Law School, becoming a federal appellate judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 1983 to 1989, and later served as U.S. Solicitor General from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. After leaving government, Starr practiced law at firms like Kirkland & Ellis and taught constitutional law. He later served as president of Baylor University from 2010 to 2016, where he resigned amid a sexual assault scandal involving the football team, though he was not directly implicated. He continued as chancellor at Baylor until 2019 and remained active in conservative legal circles, defending President Donald Trump during his first impeachment in 2019 and later serving as a special prosecutor in Trump's impeachment proceedings. He authored books on law and faith, reflecting his devout Christian background.

He is distinct from the celebrity financial advisor also named Kenneth Starr, who was convicted of running a massive Ponzi scheme.