TOPEKA—Court of Appeals Judge Patrick McAnany will retire January 14 after 24 years on the bench.
McAnany was appointed a district court judge in the 10th Judicial District, composed of Johnson County, in 1995 and was named a Court of Appeals judge in 2004.
He was a trial lawyer for almost three decades before becoming a judge, and he said it was a welcome change.
"Several district court judges before whom I'd tried a number of cases asked me to fill in for them from time to time as a pro tem judge. I found that I really enjoyed the change in roles," he said. "As a trial lawyer I had always been an advocate for the client. That's essential for an effective judicial system. But as a judge, I became an advocate for the law itself. The goal became a just outcome under the law, not merely what would be best for my client," he said.
During nine years as a judge in Johnson County, McAnany served two terms as chief judge and introduced several programs.
"With the help of attorney Greg Kincaid, we developed the 'Changing Lives Through Literature' program that required juvenile offenders to read a book and provide me with a book report at the next hearing on their case. That eventually morphed into a program for adult offenders and introduced them to new ideas and the world of books," he said.
He and his fellow judges also developed trial court performance standards for the 10th Judicial District, which he said are still used today.
"They provide a system for setting measurable goals for the court to meet and for getting feedback from the community on how the court is performing and meeting the needs of the community," he explained.
Additionally, he promoted the development of the Judicial Academy, a dozen videos of presentations to paralegal students at Johnson County Community College that covered all aspects of the law and the operations of the court.
"Different judges covered each one-hour segment," McAnany said. "The videos were played for years on the college's cable channel that went out to all households in the county that had cable TV. The programs produced a lot of favorable comments and goodwill for the court and the judicial system at large."
McAnany said the biggest challenge in moving from the district court to the appellate court was dealing with criminal cases.
"As a lawyer I was the firm's utility infielder, handling cases from adoptions to zoning appeals. I handled all kinds of civil cases as a trial judge, but I had no criminal law experience whatsoever. So it was a real challenge getting up to speed on the wide variety of criminal issues that come before the Court of Appeals," he said.
McAnany is a native of Sweetwater, Texas. He graduated in 1965 from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Mo., with a bachelor's degree in philosophy. He received his law degree in 1968 and a master's of law degree in business litigation in 1971, both from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
He joined Miller & O'Laughlin in Kansas City, and then served in the office of general counsel for Mobil Oil Corp., where he was assistant division attorney and antitrust counsel in New York City. He returned to Kansas in 1973 to join McAnany, Van Cleave & Phillips, where he was engaged in general civil and business litigation and served on the firm's board of directors.
McAnany has taught business law at Rockhurst University and trial advocacy at the University of Kansas School of Law. He served on the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission and was a member of the executive committee of the Kansas District Judges Association and the judicial advisory board of the Law and Organizational Economics Center at KU.
He was named one of the 500 best judges in the United States in 2006 by Lawdragon Magazine. Other honors include the Liberty Bell Award from the Topeka Bar Association, the Recognition Award from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction from the Kansas Bar Association (as chairman, and on behalf of, the Kansas Supreme Court's Blue Ribbon Commission), the Foundation Legacy Award from the Johnson County Bar Foundation, and the Chief Justice Richard W. Holmes Award of Merit from the American Judges Association. He also was a 2013 fellow of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource program of the U.S. Department of Justice.
McAnany said he has a list of things he wants to do in retirement.
"I've been neglecting my music of late," he said. He played violin in the Overland Park Orchestra and is currently part of a blues and jazz group.
He and his wife have two children and four grandchildren, whom they hope to visit more often.
"My wife has all kinds of travel plans in the works. In between, I hope to get my garden back into shape, and I have a whole stack of books I've been meaning to get to for years."
By law, the governor appoints judges to the Kansas Court of Appeals, subject to a majority confirmation by the Kansas Senate. The governor has 60 days from the date the position becomes vacant to make the appointment.
A Court of Appeals judge must be at least 30 years old and have been a Kansas lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school for at least 10 years. Once the appointment is made, the incumbent must stand for a retention vote in the first general election after serving one year in office. Once retained, the judge serves a four-year term.