Court of Appeals to sit at Cowley County Community College

TOPEKA—A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals will hear cases in Arkansas City Tuesday, September 18, as part of the U.S. Constitution Observance Day. Oral arguments in three of the appeals will be conducted in the Earle N. Wright Community Room in the Brown Center, 125 S. 2nd Street, and three others in the Cowley County Courthouse.

The Court of Appeals hearings at the Community College are from Sedgwick County, with the appeals to be argued at the courthouse from Sedgwick and Seward counties, plus the Workers Compensation Appeals Board. The hearings at the Community College will begin 9:30 A.M. The appeals to be heard at the Courthouse will begin at 1:30 p.m.

Judges Patrick D. McAnany and Stephen D. Hill will join retired District Judge Allen R. Slater, to decide the cases. Judge McAnany has been designated the presiding judge for the hearing. The Court also will decide the outcome of 15 additional appeals that will be submitted to the panel without oral arguments on them.

Judge McAnany said the appeals demonstrate how the courts interpret and apply the law as adopted by our legislature and the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. "The constitutional rights we all share are tested daily in cases that appear on our docket throughout the year," Judge McAnany said.

Attorneys for each side will have an opportunity to present argument to the judges, and the judges will have a chance to ask questions. The court will then take each of the cases under consideration and will issue a written decision at a later date, usually within 60 days.

After the hearings have been completed, the judges will be available to talk with students.

These hearings are part of the Constitution Day observance at Cowley County Community College. Congress has directed by law that federally funded educational institutions host educational events about the United States Constitution on or about September 17 each year. The Constitution was signed by a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787.