The Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission was established in 1958 when Kansas voters approved an amendment to the state's constitution. The commission is tasked with presenting the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

with a slate of three qualified candidates whenever a vacancy occurs on the

Kansas Supreme Court The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Marla Luckert, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the st ...

. The governor interviews the candidates and makes the appointment. This process, known as merit selection, is used by Kansas and 21 other states, along with the District of Columbia, for selecting all members of their highest court. The

Court of Appeals A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...

used the same process until 2013 when the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state senators. ...

changed the process to allow the governor to nominate a candidate who is then approved by the

Kansas Senate The Kansas Senate is the upper house of the Kansas Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. State of Kansas. It is composed of 40 senators elected from single-member districts, each with a population of at least 60,000 inhabitants. Members ...

. The commission has nine members. Four are non-attorneys appointed by the governor; four others are attorneys selected by attorneys in each of the state's four congressional districts. The chair of the commission, an attorney, is elected by attorneys in a statewide vote. The current chair is Anne Burke. After being appointed to the Kansas Supreme Court bench, a justice is subject to a retention election after one year. Subsequently, justices are subject to retention elections every six years.

Current members of the commission

Attorney members * Anne Burke, chair * First congressional district: David Rebein * Second congressional district: Natalie Haag * Third congressional district: Matthew Keenan * Fourth congressional district: Jay Fowler Non attorney members * First congressional district: Linda Weis * Second congressional district: Felita Kahrs * Third congressional district: Robert Hayworth * Fourth congressional district: Dennis Hedke

Proposed changes to the selection process

Periodically, Kansas legislators propose to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected, which would require an amendment to the state constitution. As recently as February 2016, such an attempt was defeated in the legislature. Stephen Ware, a law professor at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

, is a critic of the way justices are selected in Kansas. In a 2007 paper, he wrote, "Kansas is the only state in the union that gives the members of its bar majority control over the selection of state supreme court justices." However, five other states — Florida, Missouri, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming — and the District of Columbia have merit selection commissions where a majority of the members are attorneys.

References

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External links

Stand fast against latest attempt to control Kansas courts
''The Kansas City Star,'' Feb. 3, 2016.
Still no need to politicize courts
''Wichita Eagle'' Blog, Jan. 15, 2007.
Supreme Court Nominating Commission
Kansas Judicial Branch Kansas Supreme Court 1958 establishments in Kansas