28th Judicial District Nominating Commission seeks nominees for district judge, district magistrate judge vacancies

TOPEKA—The 28th Judicial District Nominating Commission is seeking nominations to fill vacancies for a district judge and a district magistrate judge.

District Judge Rene Young will retire August 1 from her position in Saline County. District Magistrate Judge Jason Parks will resign June 6 from his position in Ottawa County.

The 28th Judicial District is composed of Ottawa and Saline counties.

Justice K.J. Wall, the Supreme Court departmental justice responsible for the 28th Judicial District, said individuals can apply or be nominated, but nominations must be on a nomination form and include the nominee's signature.

District judge appointment process

The nominating commission seeks nominations and then meets to interview the nominees. Interviews are open to the public. The commission selects three to five people whose names are submitted to the governor to fill the position according to statutory qualification and residency requirements.

The governor has 60 days after receiving the names to decide whom to appoint.

To be considered for district judge, a nominee must be:

• at least 30 years old;

• a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas and engaged in the practice of law for at least five years, whether as a lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school; and

• a resident of the judicial district at the time of taking office and while holding office.

District magistrate judge appointment process
 
The nominating commission seeks nominations and then meets to interview nominees. Interviews are open to the public. The commission selects who is appointed to fill the district magistrate judge vacancy.
 
To be considered for district magistrate judge, a nominee must be: 

• a resident of Ottawa County at the time of taking office and while holding office;

• a graduate of a high school, a secondary school, or the equivalent; and

• either a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas or able to pass an examination given by the Supreme Court to become certified within 18 months.

Nomination process

Nominations must be accompanied by a nomination form available from the clerk of the district court in Ottawa and Saline counties, the clerk of the appellate courts in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka, or online at kscourts.gov/judge/vacancies.

The deadline to submit a nomination with supporting documents is noon Friday, June 6, 2025.

Nominees may submit the nomination form as paper copies or electronically. An electronic nomination  form can be submitted to jdnc.nominationform@kscourts.gov.

Paper submissions require one original and eight copies of the completed nomination form and a like number of supporting documents delivered to:

Justice K.J. Wall, chair
28th Judicial District Nominating Commission
Kansas Judicial Center
301 SW 10th Ave.
Topeka, KS 66612-1507

Public Interviews

The nominating commission will convene at 9:30 a.m. Monday, July 21, to interview nominees. The interviews are open to the public and will take place at:

Saline County Courthouse
300 W Ash
Salina

Term of office
 
After serving one year in office, a new judge must stand for a retention vote in the next general election to remain in the position. If retained, the incumbent will serve a four-year term.
 
Nominating commission
 
The 28th Judicial District Nominating Commission consists of Justice K.J. Wall as the nonvoting chair; David Stanley, Bennington; Jay Macy, Minneapolis; Lance Cochran, Robert German, Donald Merriman, Russel Prophet, and Christine Ritter, Salina; and Robert Martin, Solomon.