TOPEKA—In what is believed to be a historical first in Johnson County, Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss today announced the Kansas Supreme Court will travel to Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, next Wednesday, October 3rd, to hear appeals in four cases pending before the Court.
The Court has never presided over appeals within Johnson County, historical records show. The Supreme Court session will be conducted from 9 a.m. to noon in Craig Auditorium of the General Education Building at the Community College , 12345 College Blvd., Overland Park. The session is open to the public.
“This session is part of a public outreach by the Supreme Court to provide an educational opportunity for students and the general public alike to learn about the justices—who they are, what they do, and how they do it,” Chief Justice Nuss said. “This continues a recent program of traveling for special Court sessions to hear oral arguments in appeals that has included sessions in Greensburg, Wichita, Salina and now, Johnson County,” he said. “We began the outreach in January 2011, when the Supreme Court first sat in a courtroom outside of the Judicial Center in Topeka. In that month, we sat in the recently restored former Supreme Court courtroom in the State Capitol building.”
To facilitate public understanding about the upcoming Johnson County session, summaries of the four cases to be argued have been written and formatted into a tri-fold brochure, which will be distributed at the door during the court session. The brochure also may be found online at the Judicial Branch website, www.kscourts.org. In addition, a live video stream of the oral arguments may be accessed at the kscourts.org website.
Besides the seven justices, Wyandotte County District Judge Ernest L. Johnson will join the Court to hear one of the appeals and later participate in the decision and opinion writing process. Judge Johnson will be sitting in place of Justice Carol A. Beier, who has recused in the appeal of a breach of contract case.
Those attending the sessions will view arguments in three criminal cases from the Kansas City area, including a spousal murder, DNA testing, and drug offenses, as well as a $13.5 million civil suit involving a contract for the construction of communications towers for the Sprint telecommunications company.