Nine apply for Shawnee County judgeship

TOPEKA—Nine persons have applied for a vacancy on the Shawnee County District Court that will be created when Judge Thomas R. Conklin retires July 4.

Members of the Third Judicial District Nominating Commission will conduct interviews June 23 in Room 409 of the Shawnee County Courthouse and submit the names of two or three nominees to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who will make the appointment.

Submitting applications by the deadline established by the Nominating Commission are: Cheryl Rios Kingfisher, Associate Municipal Court Presiding Judge; Carl William Ossmann, Deputy General Counsel with the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services; David Debenham, Shawnee County Deputy District Attorney; Justice B. King, managing partner in the Topeka firm of Fisher, Patterson, Sayler & Smith; Larry G. Karns, a Municipal Court Judge Pro Tem and private practitioner; Richard Harmon, a Topeka solo practitioner and member of the Topeka City Council; Ruth E. Graham and Panteleon Florez Jr., both Topeka solo practitioners; and Kelly Michelle Connor-Wilson, a private practitioner with the firm of Connor and Rivers, LLC, with offices in Overland Park and Kansas City, MO.