TOPEKA—A nominating commission charged with naming candidates to fill a district judge vacancy in the 2nd Judicial District has issued a request for assistance from the public.
The 2nd Judicial District includes the counties of Jackson, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, and Wabaunsee Counties.
The nine-member commission is responsible for submitting the names of two or three nominees to the Governor for the vacancy which was created by the 2008 Legislature and certification by Chief Justice Kay McFarland that the position be located in the 2nd Judicial District.
“The nominating commission is especially interested in receiving recommendations of suggested nominees to fill the vacancy from the general public. All of the citizens of the 2nd Judicial District are requested to consider this matter, and the names of suggested nominees submitted by the general public will be welcomed by the commission,” according to Justice Marla J. Luckert, departmental justice for the judicial district.
Kansas statutes require that a judge be a resident of the district in which selected, be at least 30 years of age, have been in the active practice of law for at least five years, and have been admitted to the practice of law within the State of Kansas.
Suggested nominees are requested to complete questionnaires for the position. The completed forms should be returned to Justice Marla Luckert, Suite 315, Kansas Judicial Center, 301 SW 10th Avenue, Topeka, KS 66612 no later than noon, June 20. The forms are available in the office of the clerk of the district court in Jackson, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, and Wabaunsee Counties. The form also is online at www.kscourts.org.
The nominating commission will convene at 9:00 a.m., June 27, in the Pottawatomie County Courthouse, Westmoreland, to interview the suggested nominees. The meeting will be open to the public; however, the commission has the authority to adjourn to executive session to discuss personal traits of the suggested nominees.
The law requires that the commission submit at least two names, but not more than three, to the Governor who may appoint any of the suggested nominees.
The 2nd Judicial District Nominating Commission includes Justice Luckert as the nonvoting chair and Ronald L. Hodgson, Junction City; Edward W. Pugh, Wamego; Charles W. Waugh, Eskridge; Gary F. Conklin, Westmoreland; D. Max Fuller, Maple Hill; Frankie B. Sumner, Westmoreland; David G. Allen, Circleville; and Norma J. Dunnaway, Perry.