Kansas Supreme Court names two new members, reappoints three others to Chief Judges Council

TOPEKA — Chief Justice Lawton Nuss appointed Chief Judge Preston Pratt and Chief Judge Joe Dickinson to the Chief Judges Council, which provides the Kansas Supreme Court with ground-level perspective on issues facing Kansas courts.

Pratt is chief judge of the 17th Judicial District, which is composed of Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Graham, and Osborne counties. He has been a district judge and chief judge since 2011.

Dickinson is chief judge of the 9th Judicial District, which is composed of Harvey and McPherson counties. He has been a district judge since 2002 and chief judge since 2015.

They will serve on the council through December 2020.

Nuss said the seven-member council represents the diversity of Kansas courts and, as chief judges, the members' perspectives may occasionally differ from those held by members of the Kansas District Judges Association and Kansas District Magistrate Judges Association. Nuss said the Supreme Court values ideas and input from all three groups.

Nuss also reappointed three others who have served on the Chief Judges Council since it was created in January 2014:

• Chief Judge Kim W. Cudney of the 12th Judicial District, which is composed of Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Mitchell, Republic, and Washington counties. She has been a district judge and chief judge since 2006.

• Chief Judge R. Wayne Lampson of the 29th Judicial District, which is composed of Wyandotte County. He has been a district judge since 1995 and chief judge since 2008.

• Chief Judge Nicholas M. St. Peter of the 19th Judicial District, which is composed of Cowley County. He has been a district judge since 2004 and chief judge since 2010.

These three members also will serve terms through December 2020.

Other members of the council are Chief Judge Patricia Macke Dick of the 27th Judicial District and Chief Judge David A. Ricke of the 13th Judicial District. They also were appointed to the council when it was formed in 2014 and are serving through December 2018.

Macke Dick has been a district judge since 1989 and chief judge since 2007. Her district is composed of Reno County.

Ricke has been a district judge since 2004 and chief judge since 2012. His district is composed of Butler, Greenwood, and Elk counties.