Blue Ribbon Commission report given court

TOPEKA—The Supreme Court today began its consideration of a much-anticipated report by the Court-appointed Blue Ribbon Commission, which has spent the past year reviewing all facets of the state courts' operations.

Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss said the Blue Ribbon Commission report was presented to the Supreme Court last week, but he said it will not be released publicly until the justices have had a chance to thoroughly study it and discuss its recommendations. He said the report will be released in its entirety later this month.

The Chief Justice said the Commission's comprehensive review of court operations included the first–ever "weighted caseload study" of Kansas courts, as well as recommendations and comments made at 19 public meetings that were conducted across the state during the past year.

"We want to make a public release of the report as soon as the Court can review it in a careful and thoughtful way," Chief Justice Nuss said Monday. He said judges and court employees were advised that the Court received the report in a letter he sent statewide last Friday afternoon.

"In short, I told the judges and employees on Friday that the Court needs to move quickly, but intelligently, in arriving at decisions based on the Blue Ribbon Commission report and the findings contained in the weighted caseload study," Chief Justice Nuss said. He added that some of the Commission recommendations, if adopted by the Court, could require legislative action during the current session, which also began today.

Judiciary employees were advised that the Blue Ribbon Commission Report was presented to the Supreme Court earlier last week by Court of Appeals Judge Patrick D. McAnany, chair of the 25-member Blue Ribbon Commission. The report and the weighted caseload study are the two main components of what the Chief Justice has referred to as Project Pegasus, which he named after the mythological winged horse that became the constellation of the same name. He said he selected a neutral name to avoid designating the project as court reform, re-engineering, restructuring or other terms that would seem to signal a planned result.

"We always have said that the Court has no preconceived ideas of what this study will show during this historic review of court operations," Chief Justice Nuss said.

The Chief Justice's letter to all court personnel that was sent Friday