Honorable Lawton R. Nuss
Justice, Kansas Supreme Court 2002 -

Lawton R. Nuss was born in Salina, Kansas, in 1952. After graduating from Salina High School in 1970, he attended the University of Kansas on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship. He graduated in January 1975 as a Distinguished Military Graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in English and History and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He then served as a combat engineering officer with the Fleet Marine Force Pacific. After his discharge in 1979, he entered law school at the University of Kansas and graduated in May 1982.

Justice Nuss began his law practice with the Salina firm of Clark Mize & Linville, Chartered in August 1982. For the next 20 years, he was involved in a wide range of legal issues and proceedings. He represented corporations and individuals as plaintiffs as well as defendants in civil cases. He also represented the government as well as defendants in criminal cases. During this time his professional activities included serving as Chairman of the Board of Editors for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association; as President of the Kansas Association of Defense Counsel, where he also received the Distinguished Service Award; as President of the Saline-Ottawa County Bar Association; and as a mediator for the United States District Court for the District of Kansas. Justice Nuss also served as Chairman of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and as a member of the Board of Trustees of St. John's Military School, the Board of Directors of the Salina Child Care Association, the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Salina Public Library, the Board of Advisors of the Coronado Area Council of Boy Scouts, and the Site Council for Roosevelt-Lincoln Middle School. 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 bar to the bench.

Justice Nuss is a graduate of the Appellate Judges School at New York University School of Law. He is a member of the Dwight D. Opperman Institute of Judicial Administration at New York University School of Law, the American Judges Association, and the Kansas Bar Association. He serves on the Board of Editors for the Journal of the Kansas Bar Association and on the Advisory Board for the Topeka-Shawnee County Youth Court. Justice Nuss is the author of several published legal and historical articles and is a frequent presenter for legal and lay audiences.

Justice Nuss has five children. He and his wife Barbara live in Topeka.

Opinions (those available online) delivered by Justice Nuss:

• 81135 -- State v. Marsh (dissent)
• 86767 -- Telegram Publishing Co. v. Kansas Dept. of Transportation
• 86829 -- State v. Kunellis
• 86895 -- State v. Bryant
• 87033 -- State v. Rogers
• 87373 -- State v. Anthony
• 87898 -- U.S.D. No. 233 v. Kansas Ass'n of American Educators
• 87974 -- State v. James
• 88124 -- Maunz v. Perales
• 88204 -- Johnson County Auto Credit, Inc. v. Green
• 88250 -- State v. Crawford
• 88325 -- City of Wichita v. Hackett
• 88347 -- State v. Swanigan
• 88623 -- Cumbaker v. Hunt Midwest Mining, Inc.
• 88720 -- State v. Jones
• 88736 -- State ex rel. Stoval v. Alivio
• 88761 -- Miller v. Kansas Dept. of S.R.S.
• 88845 -- State v. Lowe
• 88977 -- State v. Shelby (concur)
• 88991 -- ARY Jewelers, LLC v. Krigel
• 89003 -- State v. Elnicki
• 89091 -- Mudd v. Neosho Memorial Reg. Med. Center
• 89010 -- State v. Groves
• 89204 -- State v. Meeks
• 89239 -- Foos v. Terminix (dissent)
• 89268 -- State v. Sanchez-Cazares
• 89300 -- State v. Fisher
• 89466 -- Griffin v. Suzuki Motor Corp.
• 89518 -- Investcorp, L.P. v. Simpson Invest. Co., L.C.
• 89543 -- Ary Jewelers, L.L.C. v. Krigel
• 89547 -- State v. Mattox
• 89592 -- Crueger v. Board of Woodson County Comm'rs
• 89658 -- State v. Jones
• 89674 -- Cummings v. City of Lakin
• 89759 -- Rice v. State
• 89775 -- Godley v. Valley View State Bank
• 89793 -- State v. Gleason
• 90066 -- State v. Horn
• 90368 -- Kesterson v. State
• 90441 -- State v. Burhans
• 90454 -- State v. Denney
• 90613 -- State v. Torres
• 90661 -- State v. White
• 90701 -- Back-Wenzel v. Williams
• 90848 -- State v. Pham
• 90944 -- Lee Builder's, Inc. v. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co.
• 90975 -- Titterington v. Brooke Insurance
• 90982 -- State v. Davis
• 91069 -- Mid-Continent Specialists, Inc. v. Capital Homes
• 91179 -- State v. Bischoff
• 91275 -- Brown v. State
• 91284 -- Ingram v. State
• 91311 -- Evenson Trucking Co. v. Arandan
• 91324 -- In re Care & Treatment of Foster
• 91350 -- State v. Nguyen
• 91654 -- Schmidtlien Electric, Inc. v. Greathouse
• 91693 -- Hallam v. Mercy Health Center of Manhattan, Inc.
• 91748 -- City of Wichita v. Sealpak Co.
• 91810 -- State v. Jones
• 91867 -- State v. Johnson
• 91965 -- State v. Guzman
• 91999 -- State v. Beauclair
• 92030 -- State v. Voyles
• 92112 -- Bomhoff v. Nelnet Loan Services, Inc.
• 92230 -- McGinley v. Bank of America
• 92251 -- State v. Henderson
• 92380 -- Botkin v. Security State Bank
• 92488 -- State v. Cooperwood
• 92592 -- State v. Walters
• 92700 -- Johnson v. Westhoff Sand Co.
• 92814 -- State v. Rogers
• 93286 -- Board of Johnson County Comm'rs v. Smith
• 93386 -- State v. Moore
• 93465 -- State v. Kirkpatrick (dissenting)
• 93470 -- In the Estate of Hjersted
• 93646 -- State v. Leonard C. Reid
• 93690 -- Hawley v. Kansas Dept. of Agriculture
• 93868 -- Rinke v. Bank of America
• 93964 -- State v. Garcia
• 94113 -- State v. Moses
• 94123 -- Vorhees v. Baltazar
• 94128 -- State v. Kirtdoll
• 94187 -- State v. Stevens
• 94415 -- State v. Sappington
• 94416 -- State v. Sappington
• 94698 -- Finley v. Estate of DeGrazio
• 94707 -- Perry v. Board of Franklin County Comm'rs
• 94766 -- Warner v. Stover
• 94897 -- City of Roeland Park v. Jasan Trust
• 95162 -- Dillon Real Estate Co. v. City of Topeka
• 95202 - Thomas v. Benchmark Ins. Co
• 95495 -- State v. Denney
• 95537 -- Coma Corporation v. Kansas Dept. of Labor
• 95592 -- State v. Storey
• 95621 -- State v. White
• 95672 -- State v. Drayton
• 95733 -- State v. Thomas
• 95818 -- State v. McCarley
• 95819 -- State v. Martin
• 95945 - State v. Bryant
• 96003 -- In re Adoption of X.J.A.
• 96091 -- State v. Stowell
• 96173 -- Stempler v. Maryland Casualty Co.
• 96175 -- State v. Angelo
• 96250 -- Cooke, et al. v. Gillespie, et al.
• 96364 -- In re J.A.H.
• 96608 - State v. Breedlove
• 96697 -- Foundation Property Investments v. CTP
• 96744 -- State v. Holt
• 96838 -- Steffes v. City of Lawrence
• 97088 -- In re Estate of Esther R. Broderick
• 97401 -- State v. Skolaut
• 97420 -- State v. Anderson
• 97486 -- Genesis Health Club, Inc. v. City of Wichita
• 97581 -- U.S.D. No. 232 v. CWD Investments
• 98389 -- State v. Sharp
• 98498 -- State v. Baker
• 98553 -- Deal v. State
• 98740 -- In re Adoption of A.A.T. (Dissent)
• 98976 -- State v. Howard
• 99509 -- In re B.D.-Y.
• 99997 -- State v. Garcia
• 100149 -- Doyle Harsch, et al., v. Debra L. Miller, Secretary of Transportation of the State of Kansas
• 100733 -- Stoda, et al. v. Joice Holdings
• 100261 -- State v. Pennington