TOPEKA—A nominating commission charged with naming candidates to fill a district judge vacancy on the 11th Judicial District has issued a request for assistance from the public.
The 11th Judicial District includes Cherokee, Crawford, and Labette Counties.
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 upon the April 2nd retirement of Crawford County District Judge Donald R. Noland.
"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 11th 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 Lee A. Johnson, 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 Lee A. Johnson, Kansas Supreme Court, 301 SW 10th Avenue, Room 388, Topeka, KS 66612, no later than noon, April 2, 2012. The forms are available in each of the offices of the clerk of the district court in the 11th Judicial District, or online at www.kscourts.org.
No date for interviews by the nominating commission has been set.
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.
Notification of the vacancy have been mailed to every attorney in this judicial district by the chairman of the commission.
The 11th District judicial nominating commission includes Justice Johnson, as the nonvoting chair, and Sara S. Beezley, Girard; Hon. Oliver K. Lynch, Columbus; Richard G. Tucker, Parsons; James K. Cook, Parsons; John W. Lehman, Girard; and Charles W. Sweeton, Baxter Springs.