3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission to interview nominees for vacancy

TOPEKA—The 3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission will convene August 23 to interview nominees to fill a district judge position in Shawnee County vacated July 31 by Judge Franklin Theis.

The commission will meet at 9 a.m. Friday, August 23, in the Shawnee County Courthouse, 200 SE Seventh St. Interviews are open to the public.

The 3rd Judicial District is composed of Shawnee County.

The nominees are:

• Jay Befort, Topeka, deputy general counsel, Kansas Department of Revenue

• Kevin Cook, Topeka, private practice, Cook Law Office, Topeka

• Jessica Domme, Tecumseh, assistant attorney general, Kansas Attorney General's Office

• Lori Dougherty-Bichsel, Silver Lake, administrative judge and department director, Topeka Municipal Court

• Sarah Loquist-Berry, Topeka, general counsel, Sedgwick County Area Educational Services Interlocal Cooperative

• Penny Moylan, Topeka, deputy disciplinary administrator, Kansas judicial branch

• Rachel Pickering, Topeka, assistant solicitor general, Kansas Attorney General's Office

• Amy Raymond, Topeka, director of trial court programs, Office of Judicial Administration, Kansas judicial branch

• Steven Roth, Topeka, administrative law judge, Kansas Department of Labor, Workers Compensation Division

• Jennifer Martin Smith, Topeka, private practice, Alderson, Alderson, Conklin, Crow & Slinkard, Topeka

• Todd Thornburg, Topeka, staff attorney and special assistant attorney general, Kansas Department of Labor

• Kelly Trussell, Topeka, private practice, Sloan, Eisenbarth, Glassman, McEntire & Jarboe, Topeka

• John Paul Washburn, Tecumseh, private practice, Washburn Law Office, Topeka

• Brett Watson, Topeka, deputy district attorney, Shawnee County District Attorney's Office

The commission will select from three to five nominees whose names will be submitted to the governor to fill the position according to statutory qualification and residency requirements. If there are not three nominees who reside in the judicial district who are deemed qualified by the commission, the commission may consider nominees who reside outside the district. The governor has 60 days after receiving the names to decide whom to appoint.

After serving one year in office, the 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.

Nominees for district judge 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 Shawnee County at the time of taking office and while holding office.

The 3rd Judicial District Nominating Commission consists of Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert as the nonvoting chair; Toby McCullough, Rossville; and Terry Beck, Daniel Crow, Thomas Lemon, Randall Phillips, and W. Eric Stafford, all of Topeka.