12th Judicial District Nominating Commission seeks nominees for district magistrate judge vacancy

TOPEKA—The 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission is seeking nominations to fill a district magistrate judge vacancy in Lincoln County.

The vacancy was created when Gov. Laura Kelly appointed Judge Jennifer O’Hare to fill a district judge position in Cloud County.

The 12th Judicial District is composed of Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, and Washington counties.

Justice K.J. Wall, the Supreme Court departmental justice responsible for the 12th Judicial District, said individuals can apply or be nominated, but nominations must be on a nomination form and include the nominee's signature.

District magistrate judge appointment process

The nominating commission seeks nominations and then meets to interview nominees. Interviews are open to the public. The commission selects who is appointed to fill the district magistrate judge vacancy.

To be considered for district magistrate judge, a nominee must be:

• a resident of Lincoln County at the time of nomination, election, or appointment, when taking the oath of office, and while holding office (see K.S.A. 20-331, K.S.A. 20-334[b], and K.S.A. 20-338[b][8]);

• a graduate of a high school, a secondary school, or the equivalent; and

• either a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas or able to pass an examination given by the Supreme Court to become certified within 18 months.

Nomination process

Nominations must be accompanied by a nomination form available from the clerk of the district court in Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, or Washington counties, the clerk of the appellate courts in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka, or online at kscourts.gov/judge/vacancies.

The deadline to submit a nomination with supporting documents is noon on Friday, June 27.

Nominees may submit the nomination form as paper copies or electronically. An electronic copy of the form can be submitted to jdnc.nominationform@kscourts.gov .

Paper submissions require one original and 12 copies of the completed nomination form and a like number of supporting documents be delivered to:

Justice K.J. Wall, Chair
12th Judicial District Nominating Commission
Kansas Judicial Center
301 S.W. 10th Avenue
Topeka, KS 66612-1507

Public interviews

The nominating commission will convene at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, July 29, to interview nominees. The interviews will be at:

Lincoln County Courthouse
216 E. Lincoln Avenue
Lincoln

Accommodation

Any person with a disability who requires accommodation to access the nominating commission meeting should notify the judicial branch ADA coordinator as early as possible:

ADA Coordinator
ada@kscourts.gov
785-296-2256
TTY at 711

Term of office

After serving one year in office, a new judge must stand for a retention vote in the next general election to remain in the position. If retained, the incumbent will serve a four-year term.

Nominating commission

The 12th Judicial District Nominating Commission consists of Justice K.J. Wall as the nonvoting chair; Carol Good, Barnard; James Johnson and Jeffery Zimmer, Beloit; Bryan Cleveland and Justin Ferrell, Concordia; Tanner Johnson, Courtland; David Savage, Greenleaf; Starla Nelson, Jamestown; Bradley Steen, Lincoln; Darrell Miller and Keith Roe, Mankato; and Elizabeth Hiltgen, Palmer.