TOPEKA — The Kansas District Judges Association, an organization open to all state district court judges, this week elected officers to serve the organization in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
Judge Michael F. Powers was elected president of the association. He is chief judge in the 8th judicial district composed of Dickinson, Geary, Marion, and Morris counties.
Powers has been a district court judge since 1991 and he has served as chief judge since 1994. Before his appointment to the bench, he served as Morris County attorney from 1980 to 1991. He also practiced law in Council Grove in the firm Bryant and Powers.
Powers is a graduate of Emporia State University, where he was president of the Student Government Association, and later president of the ESU Alumni Association. He graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law.
He is a member of the Kansas Bar Association, American Bar Association, and American Judicature Society. He has served on the executive committee of the Kansas District Judges Association since 2006. He has received many awards for exemplary service from state and local organizations and is very active in the community. He and his wife, Judy, live in Marion, where he serves on multiple boards and is active in many local organizations.
Powers says his favorite local involvement is as play-by-play announcer for cable TV broadcasts of Marion High School football games, which he has done since 1994. He enjoys the energy and purity of high school sports and believes that staying connected to young people help him maintain his faith in the future.
As president of KDJA, Powers looks forward to working with the state’s judges to support a free and independent court system dedicated to serving the public.
Other Officers Elected
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Judge Patty Macke Dick is president-elect. She is chief judge in the 27th judicial district, a one-county district that consists of Reno County.
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Judge Robert Frederick was elected secretary. He is judge in the 25th judicial district, which consists of Finney, Greeley, Hamilton, Kearny, Scott, and Wichita counties.
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Judge James Fleetwood was elected treasurer. He is chief judge of the 18th judicial district, a one-county district that consists of Sedgwick County.
Outgoing president is Judge Daniel A. Duncan, 29th judicial district, a one-county district that consists of Wyandotte County.
The new officers were elected at a statewide conference for judges conducted in Overland Park.