The Kansas Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level

appellate court 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 ...

for the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

History

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. ...

created the first Kansas Court of Appeals in 1895, to help 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 ...

with an increasingly heavy caseload. The original statute that created the court contained a sunset provision that allowed the court to expire in 1901.History of the Kansas Judicial Branch
/ref> The Court of Appeals was reestablished permanently in 1977 as a seven-member appellate court—expanded to ten judges in 1987, then later to twelve and then to fourteen.

Jurisdiction

The Court of Appeals hears all appeals from orders of the State Corporation Commission, original actions in

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

, and all appeals from the state district courts in both

civil Civil may refer to: *Civic virtue, or civility *Civil action, or lawsuit * Civil affairs *Civil and political rights *Civil disobedience *Civil engineering *Civil (journalism), a platform for independent journalism *Civilian, someone not a membe ...

and criminal cases (except those that may be appealed directly to the Kansas Supreme Court).

Procedures

Kansas Court of Appeals judges sit in panels of three at locations throughout the state, but most frequently at the primary courtroom in the Kansas Judicial Center in

Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Uni ...

. The court also has the power to review matters ''

en banc In law, an en banc session (; French for "in bench"; also known as ''in banc'', ''in banco'' or ''in bank'') is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a smaller p ...

''. Each panel typically rules on approximately 30 appeals over a two-day period every month. Decisions of the Court of Appeals are filed weekly, usually on Friday mornings.Court of Appeals Purpose, Authority, and History
/ref> There is no right to an appeal from the

judgments Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as ''adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle ...

of the Court of Appeals.

Parties A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

who lose their appeal in the Court of Appeals may petition the Kansas Supreme Court to review the decision, but the justices are not required to do so.

Judges

Court of Appeals judges are appointed to four-year terms by the Governor of Kansas, with confirmation by the Kansas Senate. Until 2013, the Governor would appoint a justice from a list of qualified individuals submitted to him by the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission. The judges go through a retention election after their initial appointment. The chief judge is elected by the members of the court. Before July 1, 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court appointed the chief judge. The judges on the court are:

Vacancies and pending nominations

References

External links

Kansas Court of Appeals official homepage
{{Authority control State appellate courts of the United States Kansas state courts 1895 establishments in Kansas 1901 disestablishments in Kansas 1977 establishments in Kansas Courts and tribunals established in 1895 Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1901 Courts and tribunals established in 1977