Nominating commission forwards Court of Appeals nominees

TOPEKA—The Supreme Court Nominating Commission today submitted the names of three persons to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals that was created by the January appointment of Hon. Lee A. Johnson to the Supreme Court

They include Glenn R. Braun, Hays; District Judge Steve A. Leben, and Steven J. Obermeier, both of Olathe. The governor will have 60 days in which to make the appointment.

Braun has been in the private practice of law in Hays since 1981 when he joined the firm of Robert F. Glassman, P.A. He has continued in that firm as a partner since 1984. He also served as Ellis County Attorney from 1989-1997 and as a Hays city prosecutor since 1983.

Braun has been a Commissioner and Hearing Officer with the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission since 2003. He is a 1978 graduate of Kansas State University and a 1981 graduate of the Washburn University School of Law.

Judge Leben began his legal career as an associate with the firm of Stinson, Mag & Fizzell, where he practiced law from 1982 to 1988. He left that firm in 1988 to become a solo practitioner, which included a position as of counsel to the Kansas City, MO, firm of Kuraner & Schwegler from 1989 until his appointment to the Johnson County District Court.

Judge Leben is a 1978 graduate of the University of Kansas and a 1982 graduate of the KU School of Law.

Obermeier is an assistant district attorney in Johnson County, a position he has held since 1985, when he was admitted to practice law. During his tenure as an assistant district attorney, he has prepared more than 820 appellate briefs and argued more than 285 appeals before the Kansas Court of Appeals and Kansas Supreme Court.

Obermeier is a 1981 graduate of the University of Kansas and a 1984 graduate of the Washburn law school.