Longtime court clerk coming out of retirement to serve as honorary bailiff for Supreme Court

TOPEKA—Donna Oswald had worked for the Atchison County District Court for more than 45 years when she retired in 2022. Now she’s been called out of retirement for one more act of service to the Kansas court system.

The Kansas Supreme Court invited Oswald to serve as honorary bailiff when the court visits Lansing Middle School Tuesday evening to hear two cases. As honorary bailiff, she will call the audience to order at 6:30 p.m. as the Supreme Court enters the school auditorium for its special session. 

Supreme Court special session in Lansing

The Supreme Court visit to Lansing Middle School is part of its outreach to familiarize Kansans with the court, its work, and the overall role of the Kansas judiciary.

The court will be in session from 6:30 p.m. to about 8 p.m. April 23 at Lansing Middle School, 220 Lion Lane. After the session concludes, justices will greet the public in an informal reception.
To learn about the special session and the cases to be heard, visit www.kscourts.org/travel-docket. 

Unexpected honor for Oswald

Oswald said she was shocked when she got the call telling her she was selected to serve for one night as bailiff for the state’s highest court.  

“I was surprised, and I am very honored to be able to serve in this capacity,” Oswald said.

Oswald nominated by chief judge

Oswald was nominated to serve as honorary bailiff by Chief Judge Joan Lowdon, who chose her for two reasons. First was Oswald’s long tenure with the Kansas court system, and second was Lowdon’s desire to involve people from courts in both Atchison and Leavenworth counties in the Supreme Court’s visit to the 1st Judicial District. 

“I am grateful for Donna’s service to our courts and her willingness to return for this historic event,” Lowdon said. “She was always prompt and mindful of the image she wanted the court clerk’s office to present. She was also courteous, and she added a personal touch for those who had business in the courthouse.” 

Lowdon also mentioned Oswald’s reputation for being the courthouse historian. 

“Often Donna would identify items or documents she knew would be important for generations to come, and she would take extra care to ensure those items were preserved,” Lowdon said. “For those who visit the courthouse, you will still see the effects of her preservation efforts to this day.”

Oswald demure about career with courts

Oswald is modest when she describes her long career with the courts, which included roles as administrative support for a court services officer and later two judges, as a trial court clerk, as a transcriptionist, and finally 22 years as clerk of the district court.

When asked about preserving historical artifacts, she said she saved old documents for people who research genealogy. 

“Genealogy is important, especially for certain individuals,” she said. “I tried to make sure those documents were preserved.”

Working for the courts not only provided Oswald a long career, it also taught her about life. 

“I learned more about life sitting in a courtroom than I could have ever learned from a textbook,” Oswald said. “I began to realize not everyone grew up the same way I grew up, and they had different challenges in life.”

Through all her duties over the years, what she enjoyed most was working with jurors, because it put her in touch with people in her community.

“To this day, I have people stop me to tell me they’ve been called for jury duty or to ask me questions about serving,” she said.