TOPEKA—A nominating commission charged with naming candidates to fill a district judge vacancy in the 30th Judicial District has issued a request for assistance from the public.
The 30th Judicial District includes the counties of Barber, Harper, Kingman, Pratt, and Sumner.
The 11-member commission is responsible for submitting the names of two or three nominees to the Governor for the vacancy which will be created by the September 30th retirement of District Judge Thomas H. Graber, Wellington.
“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 30th 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 Carol A. Beier, Supreme Court Departmental Justice.
Kansas statutes require that a judge be a resident of the district in which selected, be at least 30 years of age, have been in the active practice of law for at least five years, and have been admitted to the practice of law within the State of Kansas.
Suggested nominees are requested to complete questionnaires for the position. The completed forms should be returned to Justice Beier, Kansas Supreme Court, 301 S.W. 10th, Topeka, KS 66612, no later than 5:00 p.m., August 6, 2007. The forms are available in the office of clerk of the district court in each of the district’s counties.
The nominating commission will convene at 9:00 a.m., August 13, 2007, in the Sumner County Courthouse, Wellington, to interview the suggested nominees. 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 nominees.
The law requires that the commission submit at least two names, but not more than three, to the governor who may appoint any of the suggested nominees.
Notices of the vacancy are being mailed to every attorney in this judicial district by the chairman of the commission.
The 30th district judicial nominating commission includes Justice Beier, as the nonvoting chairman; Robert R. Eisenhauer, Pratt; Melvin E. Matlock, Belle Plaine; Gordon B. Stull, Pratt; Richard L. Swayden, Medicine Lodge; John A. Potucek, II, Wellington; Victor M. Elliott, Anthony; Francis E. Meisenheimer, Kingman; Howard K. Loomis, Pratt; Alan C. Goering, Medicine Lodge; and Lance S. Dixon, Kingman.