Judge McKinney was appointed District Court Judge for the Southern District of Indiana in July 1987. For 8-1/2 years before that appointment, he served as Judge of the Johnson Circuit Court.

He was a member and partner in the law firm of Sargent & McKinney from 1974 until his election to the Johnson Circuit Court bench. From 1971 to 1974, he was a member and partner in the law firm of Rodgers & McKinney. He previously served as a Deputy Attorney General and a law clerk to the Indiana Attorney General.

Judge McKinney graduated from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL, in 1966 and from the Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington in 1969.