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News Releases

01/06/12: Court Adopts New Child Support Schedules
01/09/12: Blue Ribbon Commission Report Given Court
01/13/12: Chief Justice to Address Joint Session
02/02/12: Two Nominated for District Judge

See the Archives for new releases dating back to 1997

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 2, 2012

For more information
contact Ron Keefover
Education-Information Officer

The names of two attorneys were sent to Governor Sam Brownback today as nominees to fill a vacancy on the 30th Judicial District Court that was created by the January 3 retirement of Hon. Robert J. Schmisseur, Pratt.

Nominated were Candace R. Lattin, Iuka, and Francis E. Meisenheimer, Kingman. The governor will have 30 days in which to make the appointment. After that, the new judge will be on the next general election ballot after serving in office for one year for a vote on whether he or she should be retained for a four-year term. The nominations were delivered to the governor Thursday afternoon following interviews by the 30th Judicial Nominating Commission that were conducted in Pratt Thursday morning.

The 30th Judicial District includes Kingman, Barber, Harper, Sumner, and Pratt counties.

Lattin received her law degree from the Washburn University School of Law, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Wichita State University, and an Associate of Science degree from Pratt Community Junior College.

She began her legal career in 1985 when she opened a private practice in Stafford. Since then, in addition to private practice, she has served as the Kiowa County Attorney, Pratt City Public Defender, Pratt County Public Defender, and served as municipal judge of Pawnee Rock before that position was discontinued in 2007.

Meisenheimer received his law degree from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1980, and his undergraduate degree with a B.S. in Business Administration from Kansas State University in 1977.

The current municipal judge for the City of Kingman, Meisenheimer also has been in private practice since 1986 following a six-year stint as an assistant Reno County Attorney. In addition to private practice, he is the school board attorney for West Kingman County USD No. 332, and Kingman County Counselor.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 13, 2012

For more information
contact Ron Keefover
Education-Information Officer

Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss will deliver his second State of the Judiciary message to a joint session of the Legislature at 5 p.m., Wednesday, January 18, in the House Chamber.

Chief Justice Nuss said although he isn't disclosing topics of the speech, it will be an important message, given the dire financial straits of the Kansas court system in recent years. He was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Bill Graves in August 2002, becoming the first Court member in more than 20 years to move directly from the practice of law to the bench. He became Chief Justice in August 2010.

The first year a Chief Justice addressed a joint session of the Legislature was 1972, when the late Chief Justice Harold R. Fatzer delivered a State of Judiciary message. His speech focused on the need for an impartial judiciary that is separate but co-equal to the other branches of government as the Legislature sought new quarters for the Supreme Court due to overcrowding in the Statehouse.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2012

For more information
contact Ron Keefover
Education-Information Officer

The Supreme Court today began its consideration of a much-anticipated report by the Court-appointed Blue Ribbon Commission, which has spent the past year reviewing all facets of the state courts' operations.

Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss said the Blue Ribbon Commission report was presented to the Supreme Court last week, but he said it will not be released publicly until the justices have had a chance to thoroughly study it and discuss its recommendations. He said the report will be released in its entirety later this month.

The Chief Justice said the Commission's comprehensive review of court operations included the first–ever "weighted caseload study" of Kansas courts, as well as recommendations and comments made at 19 public meetings that were conducted across the state during the past year.

"We want to make a public release of the report as soon as the Court can review it in a careful and thoughtful way," Chief Justice Nuss said Monday. He said judges and court employees were advised that the Court received the report in a letter he sent statewide last Friday afternoon.

"In short, I told the judges and employees on Friday that the Court needs to move quickly, but intelligently, in arriving at decisions based on the Blue Ribbon Commission report and the findings contained in the weighted caseload study," Chief Justice Nuss said. He added that some of the Commission recommendations, if adopted by the Court, could require legislative action during the current session, which also began today.

Judiciary employees were advised that the Blue Ribbon Commission Report was presented to the Supreme Court earlier last week by Court of Appeals Judge Patrick D. McAnany, chair of the 25-member Blue Ribbon Commission. The report and the weighted caseload study are the two main components of what the Chief Justice has referred to as Project Pegasus, which he named after the mythological winged horse that became the constellation of the same name. He said he selected a neutral name to avoid designating the project as court reform, re-engineering, restructuring or other terms that would seem to signal a planned result.

"We always have said that the Court has no preconceived ideas of what this study will show during this historic review of court operations," Chief Justice Nuss said.

(Attached is a copy of the Chief Justice's letter to all court personnel that was sent Friday.)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 6, 2012

For more information
contact Ron Keefover
Education-Information Officer

The state Supreme Court has adopted new child support payment schedules as a result of a federally mandated review of guidelines for the amounts of money to be ordered for child support, it was announced today. The new rates are effective April 1.

The Office of Judicial Administration emphasized in a statement released today that the revised guidelines do not automatically change any existing child support order. Rather, parents with existing orders will not be affected unless they return to court and a judge modifies it.

All states are required to review the rules governing how child support is established at least every four years. In Kansas, the Supreme Court has the obligation. To accomplish it, the Court appoints an advisory committee to review the economic basis of the guidelines and how often adjustments or deviations requested by one or both parents are approved by judges. The advisory committee consults with an economist, who reviews data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showing trends in how parents spend money on children. The committee then makes recommendations to the Supreme Court.

The committee advised the Court that parents are spending more on children than they were four years ago. In fact, the amount of money parents spent over the past four years on younger children—aged birth to 11—has increased at a higher rate than spending on children 12 - 17 years of age. As a result, the percentage increase for children in the older age group has increased approximately 3 percent, while the percentage increase for children in the younger age group ranges from 9 to 12 percent.

For example, a divorced couple with one 15-year-old child and a combined annual income of $74,400 will share an increase of $33 a month, a 3 percent increase over their current obligation. If one parent earns 60 percent of the total monthly income, his or her share of the increase will be approximately $20 a month more than his current obligation.

If the same couple has one child who is 3 years old, they would share a combined 9 percent increase in their child support obligation, or $65 a month.

However, no one will see any will see any increase in their child support obligation without a hearing before a judge.

Although most of the Kansas Child Support Guidelines have not changed, there are other significant changes. One change, related to the overall increase in the child support, is new instructions giving judges the authority to consider the high cost of extraordinary expenses such as private education or premier sports. The number of families sending children to private education or enrolling the child in a high cost extracurricular activity has increased over the past 4 to 8 years. This new instruction is an effort to better balance those costs between the parents.

The current Kansas Child Support Guideline and the revised guidelines effective April 1, 2012, can be found on the Kansas Judicial Branch web site at www.kscourts.org.

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