TOPEKA—The names of three nominees to fill the vacancy on the state Supreme Court being created by the retirement of Justice Fred N. Six have been submitted to the governor for appointment.
Both Justice Six and Justice Tyler C. Lockett are to retire at the end of their current term on January 13. Nominees to fill the vacancy created by Justice Lockett's retirement will be named following the appointment of Justice Six's successor.
Nominated are Shawnee County District Judge Marla J. Luckert, 47; Riley County District Judge David L. Stutzman; 51, and Miami County District Judge Stephen D. Hill, 51. Gov. Bill Graves will have 60 days in which to make an appointment to the Court. The three were nominated by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, a nine-member panel consisting of a lawyer and non-lawyer from each of the four congressional districts plus an attorney chairman selected in an at-large election by registered members of the state bar.
Once Gov. Graves makes an appointment from this list, the Nominating Commission will reconvene to submit the names of three more nominees to fill the second vacancy.
Judge Luckert has been chief judge of the Third Judicial District, a one-county district consisting of Shawnee County, since 2000. She has been a district judge since April 1992. Before that, she was in private practice in the Topeka law firm of Goodell, Stratton, Edmonds & Palmer, which included eight years as a partner and two and a half years as an associate. She also has taught courses on health law and bioethics at the Washburn University School of Law during her career.
She is a 1992 graduate of the National Judicial College judges' general jurisdiction course, a 1980 graduate of the Washburn law school, and a 1977 graduate of Washburn University.
Judge Stutzman has been a district court judge since January 24, 1997, when he left the Manhattan law firm of Arthur, Green, Arthur and Condeman following nearly 15 years with that law office. Recently, the judge presided over the case of Kansas State University v. Morris Communications (WIBW) on broadcasting rights to KSU football. The judge entered an order in favor of WIBW's right to continue its solo broadcasts; however, within a week of the judgment, KSU and WIBW announced a complete settlement of all issues in the case, including abandonment of an appeal.
Judge Stutzman obtained a BS degree with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, and went on to serve in the Navy as the Repair Division Officer and Damage Control Assistant on the guided missile frigate USS Brooke. Following his discharge from the Navy, Judge Stutzman completed his law degree at the University of Kansas and was graduated fourth in his class in 1982.
Judge Hill has been a district judge since 1981 and has been chief judge of the Sixth Judicial District since 1990. He is a 1972 graduate of the University of Kansas with a BS degree in English and a 1975 graduate of the Washburn University School of Law.
Immediately after graduation from law school, he practiced law in Mound City and was assistant Miami County Attorney in Paola. He was appointed Linn County Attorney and then was elected to the position in 1976. He regularly sits with the Court of Appeals and was nominated for appointment to that court in 2000.