Twenty apply for Supreme Court vacancy

TOPEKA—Six judges and 14 attorneys applied by a noon deadline today to fill a Kansas Supreme Court vacancy created by the September 8 retirement of Justice Lee Johnson.

The applicants are:

• Kristafer R. Ailslieger, lawyer, Topeka

• Daniel Cahill, judge, Kansas City

• Angela D. Coble, lawyer, Salina

• Dennis D. Depew, lawyer, Neodesha

• Randall L. Hodgkinson, lawyer, Topeka

• Michael P. Joyce, judge, Leawood

• Russell J. Keller, lawyer, Fairway

• Thomas E. Malone, judge, Topeka

• Rhonda K. Mason, judge, Olathe

• Lumen N. Mulligan, lawyer, Lawrence

• Steven J. Obermeier, lawyer, Olathe

• David J. Rempel, lawyer, Overland Park

• Melissa T. Standridge, judge, Leawood

• Lyndon W. Vix, lawyer, Maize

• Christina M. Wahl, lawyer, Kansas City, Missouri

• Keynen J. Wall, lawyer, Lawrence

• Brenda S. Watkins, lawyer, Olathe

• Kristen D. Wheeler, lawyer, Wichita

• Evelyn Z. Wilson, judge, Topeka

• Marcia A. Wood, lawyer, Wichita

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will meet by phone conference September 4 to set the date to interview applicants. The Supreme Court Nominating Commission will conduct its activity subject to the Kansas Open Meetings Act and the Kansas Open Records Act (K.S.A. 20- 123). Interviews by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission will be public pursuant to the Kansas Open Meetings Act.

The full interview schedule and brief biographical information about each applicant will be posted to the Kansas judicial branch website at www.kscourts.org under the heading "What's New" as soon after the September 4 phone conference as possible.

After interviewing applicants, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission will decide which three to recommend to the governor to fill the position. The governor will then choose which one to appoint to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission is an independent body created by the Kansas Constitution. Four of its members are appointed by the governor from each of the state’s four congressional districts. These appointees are not attorneys. Four other members are attorneys elected by attorneys in each of the state's congressional districts. The commission chair is an attorney elected by attorneys in a statewide vote.

Members of the commission are: Mikel L. Stout, Chair, Wichita; Gerald O. Schultz, Garden City; Linda B. Weis, Manhattan; Terrence J. Campbell, Lawrence; Frances Gorman Graves, Bartlett; Lenin V. Guerra, Olathe; Robert Hayworth, Stilwell; Gloria Farha Flentje, Wichita; and Dennis Hedke, Wichita.