TOPEKA—Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss announced today the Kansas Supreme Court's appointment of Nancy Maydew Dixon, Topeka, as the new state Judicial Administrator, the highest ranking nonjudicial employee in the Kansas court system.
She succeeds Dr. Howard Schwartz, whose retirement is effective today.
"The Court feels very fortunate to have hired Ms. Dixon," Chief Justice Nuss said in announcing the appointment. "Besides her high academic credentials, which include a law degree from the University of Kansas, she has had considerable management experience during her professional career. We very much look forward to working with her, particularly as we continue with our weighted caseload study and review of Kansas court operations during the rest of 2011," the Chief Justice said.
As Judicial Administrator, Dixon will implement the Supreme Court's rules and policies concerning operation and administration of the Kansas courts. The Office of Judicial Administration's duties include management of fiscal operations, personnel, education, statistical caseload information, public information, court services, and other matters involving the trial and appellate courts. The Kansas court system contains approximately 260 judges, 1,600 non-judge employees, and administers an annual budget of more than $100 million.
Dixon is currently Chief Counsel for the Kansas Department of Transportation, but will leave that position for her new job effective Monday, March 14. Before becoming Chief Counsel, she had her own consulting firm in Dublin, OH, which provided process improvement, ethics, and compliance services to organizations primarily in the healthcare industry.
She began her legal career upon graduation from the KU School of Law in 1979 as an attorney with Allied Corporation, South Bend, IN. She then served as Senior Counsel for the Whirlpool Corporation in Benton Harbor, MI, before returning to Kansas in 1990, when she was counsel to the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. After departing that firm, she practiced law for six years with the Wichita firm of Foulston Siefkin, LLP, where her practice focused on environmental, employment, and general business issues.
In 1998, Dixon became Senior Counsel for Cardinal Health in the Chicago, Illinois area, and then transferred to Cardinal's corporate headquarters in Dublin, OH, where she served as Vice President, Ethics & Compliance before starting her consulting services firm. She returned to Kansas in December.