TOPEKA — The Supreme Court appointed two judges, one lawyer and one legislator to the Commission on Judicial Qualifications, the body charged with helping the high court exercise its authority in judicial disciplinary matters.
All four appointments are for four-year terms beginning July 1, 2014, and ending June 30, 2018. The full 14-member commission includes six active or retired judges, four lawyers, and four nonlawyers.
“Members of the Commission on Judicial Qualifications play an important role upholding the Code of Judicial Conduct and we appreciate their commitment to this duty,” said Lawton Nuss, chief justice of the Supreme Court.
The two judges appointed to the commission are Brenda Cameron, a district court judge from Johnson County who was appointed to the bench in 2002, and Larry D. Hendricks, a district court judge from Shawnee County who was appointed to the bench in 2006.
Valdenia C. Winn was appointed to the commission as a nonlawyer member. She is professor of history at Kansas City Kansas Community College and represents District 34 in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Jeffrey A. Mason of Goodland was reappointed to the commission as a lawyer member. He has practiced law in Goodland since 1983 and is a member of the firm Vignery & Mason L.L.C. He was first appointed to the commission in 2006.
The Commission on Judicial Qualifications was established by the Kansas Supreme Court in 1974. It operated as a one-tier, nine-member commission until 1999, when a two-tier system was adopted and it was expanded to 14 members.
Commission members are assigned to one of two panels. In formal matters, one panel investigates the complaint, while the other conducts the hearing, which separates the investigative and judicial functions.
Complaints about a judge can arise when the judge fails to comply with the Code of Judicial Conduct or has a disability that is so serious it interferes with his or her ability to perform required judicial duties.