TOPEKA—The Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission has set October 17, 2008, as the deadline for applying for a vacancy on the Supreme Court that will be created by the January 12, 2009, retirement of Chief Justice Kay McFarland, it was announced today.
Pursuant to Kansas law, Chief Justice McFarland is retiring at the end of her current six-year term on the Court, where she has been a member since 1977. The new member of the Court will serve as a justice, and Hon. Robert E. Davis will become chief justice as the next most senior member. Chief Justice McFarland has been chief justice since September 1, 1995.
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission consists of a lawyer and a nonlawyer from each congressional district and a lawyer member who is elected statewide. The Commission is scheduled to conduct interviews November 13 and submit the names of three nominees shortly afterward to Governor Kathleen Sebelius for appointment.
Nominating forms are available in the office of the Clerk of the Appellate Courts and are online. An original and 10 copies of the nomination form should be sent to the Office of the Clerk of Appellate Courts, 301 W. 10th Street, Topeka, 66612, by noon October 17, 2008.
Chief Justice McFarland is retiring after an illustrious legal career that began with her graduation in 1964 from the Washburn University School of Law. Before that, she graduated magna cum laude from Washburn University with majors in English and history-political science in 1957.
Chief Justice McFarland was in the private practice of law until January 1971 when she became judge of the probate and juvenile courts of Shawnee County. In January 1973, she became judge of the newly created Fifth Division of Shawnee County District Court, where she served until her appointment as a justice.
She was the first woman to be elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County and the first woman district judge in Kansas history. The trend continued when she became the first woman Kansas justice and then chief justice.
During her tenure as chief justice, she led the Kansas courts from a budget crisis that resulted in an emergency surcharge on case filings to the restoration of an austere but adequate budget. The surcharge was rescinded in 2006, as a result of legislative appropriations that were made that year.
Meanwhile, she has continued to manage an increasingly complex Supreme Court caseload in which numerous high profile issues have arisen, including among numerous others, school finance, a new death penalty law, funeral picketing, Indian gaming, abortion, and state-operated casinos.
Members of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission include Richard C. Hite, Wichita, commission chair; Kerry E. McQueen, Liberal; Janet A. Juhnke, Salina; Patricia E. Riley and Dale E. Cushinberry, both of Topeka; Matthew D. Kennan, Leawood; Katherine DeBruce, Shawnee Mission; Lee H. Woodard and David N. Farnsworth, both of Wichita.