TOPEKA—A nominating commission charged with naming candidates to fill a district judge vacancy in Shawnee County District Court has issued a request for assistance from the public.
The seven-member commission is responsible for submitting the names of two or three nominees to the Governor for the vacancy which will be created when Judge Thomas R. Conklin retires effective July 4.
Judge Conklin has been a judge of Shawnee County District Court since 1987. Before that, he was general attorney with the Santa Fe Southern Pacific Co. since 1971. Judge Conklin began his legal career with the office of Kansas Revisor of Statutes upon his graduation from the Washburn University School of Law in 1968. He is a 1964 graduate of Washburn University with a major in history.
“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 3rd 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 Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert, departmental chair for the judicial district.
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 Alan F. Alderson, Commission Secretary, 2101 SW 21st, Topeka, no later than noon, June 6. The forms are available in the office of the clerk of the district court in Shawnee County and online at www.shawneecourt.org and www.kscourts.org.
The nominating commission will convene at 9:00 a.m., June 23, in the Shawnee County Courthouse 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 have been mailed to every attorney in this judicial district by the chair of the commission.
The 3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission includes Justice Luckert as the nonvoting chair and Alan F. Alderson, Topeka; Terry E. Beck, Topeka; Mary D. Feighny, Topeka; Thomas W. Kirker, Topeka; Ginger A. Barr, Auburn; and Mary M. Thomas, Topeka.