TOPEKA—A nominating commission charged with appointing a district magistrate judge in Geary County has issued a request for assistance from the public.
The nine-member commission is responsible for selecting a district magistrate judge. The magistrate position was created by the 2004 Kansas Legislature, and Chief Justice Kay McFarland has signed an order certifying the position to be located in Geary County.
"The nominating commission is especially interested in receiving recommendations of suggested nominees to fill the vacancy from the general public. All of the citizens of the Eighth Judicial District are requested to consider this matter, and the names of suggested nominees submitted by the general public will be welcomed by the commission," according to Justice Marla Luckert, nominating commission chair.
The Eighth Judicial District consists of the following counties: Dickinson, Geary, Marion and Morris.
Kansas statutes require that a district magistrate judge be a resident of the county for which appointed to serve at the time of taking the oath of office, be a graduate of a high school or its equivalent and, if not regularly admitted to practice law in Kansas, be certified by the Supreme Court as qualified to serve in the job.
Suggested appointees are requested to complete the questionnaire for the position. The completed forms should be returned to Victor A. Davis, Jr., Secretary, 819 North Washington, P.O. Box 187, Junction City, Kansas 66441, on or before noon on July 2, 2004. The forms are available in the office of the Court Administrator, located in Junction City; Clerk of the Dickinson County District Court (Abilene); Geary County District Court, Junction City; Marion County District Court, Marion; Morris County District Court, Council Grove; and the Clerk of the Appellate Courts in Topeka.
The nominating commission will convene on July 30 at 9:30 a.m. in the Geary County Courthouse, to interview the suggested appointees. The meeting will be open to the public; however, the commission has the authority to adjourn to executive session to discuss personal traits of the suggested appointees.
Notices are being mailed to every attorney in the Eighth Judicial District by the chair of the commission.
Besides Justice Luckert, the nominating chair, the commission includes Victor A. Davis, Secretary, and Edwin M. Wheeler, both of Junction City; Darrel Bryant, and Dale Rein, both of Council Grove; Douglas Thompson and Kevin Harris, both of Abilene; Kevin Fruechting, Marion; and Carolyn Gaston, Milford.