by Mary Rupert
With the primary election coming down to the wire, Wyandotte County voters were able to see a variety of candidates at a forum Wednesday night at Kansas City Kansas Community College.
The primary contest to fill a vacant judge position in the Wyandotte County District Court holds a great deal of interest this year. The primary election is Tuesday, Aug. 5.
Judge David Boal is not seeking re-election this year. The winner of the primary election for that position likely will fill the judge’s seat. Three Democratic candidates, Timothy Dupree, Courtney Mikesic and James Yoakum, are running in the primary. There are no Republican candidates for the office.
Dupree graduated from Wyandotte High School and Kansas City Kansas Community College, and is a 2001 graduate of the University of Kansas with a degree in psychology.
He received his law degree in 2003 from Washburn University. He was a prosecutor in Lyon County, Kan., and he opened his own law office in Wyandotte County in 2008.
At the candidate forum on Wednesday night, Dupree cited his experience in trying murder cases as a private practice attorney.
He said he has represented the state before the Kansas Supreme Court. He said he was the most qualified of the candidates.
“The decisions judges make affect everyone,” he said. “You need to choose the person that is the most qualified.”
Yoakum has been an attorney for 17 years in the community. He attended Bishop Ward High School and Kansas City Kansas Community College, where he played baseball in 1987.
He received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and his law degree from Washburn University.
Yoakum said he is experienced in his private practice in probate, civil, criminal and family law, and could be assigned to any docket as he had experience in all of them.
He served six years as the Edwardsville city municipal court prosecutor, and he also is one of 10 contract attorneys handling juvenile offender and child in need of care cases in Wyandotte County.
“District court is the place where the law most meets the lives of the people,” Yoakum said. “If I’m elected I will be a humble public servant. I will remember where I came from.”
Mikesic, who did not appear at the candidate forum, attended Bishop Ward High School and Kansas City Kansas Community College, where she played on the volleyball team, and graduated with honors. She received her bachelor’s degree from Long Island University, Brooklyn, N.Y., graduating magna cum laude, and was on a volleyball athletic scholarship. Her law degree is from Washburn University.
Mikesic, managing attorney at Kramer and Frank, where she has been more than six years, concentrates in civil and business litigation, as well as creditors’ rights. She has previous experience in insurance and medical malpractice defense litigation, working for more than two years for the Holbrook and Osborn law firm. She was at the district attorney’s office for 11 months at the start of her career, while still in law school, where she handled some misdemeanor cases and drafted criminal charges.
She has served as a judge pro-tem, and was a law clerk in the Kansas Supreme Court. In an earlier interview, she said she would like to give something back to the community. Her father, retired Judge David Mikesic, served 30 years in the Wyandotte County District Court. She pledged to be hard-working, fair and honest.
The forum was sponsored by the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Business West, the Central Avenue Betterment Association, the Historic Northeast Mid-Town Association, Downtown Shareholders, Rosedale Development Association, Fairfax Industrial Association and the Kansas City Press Club.
About 50 people attended the forum. It is expected to be shown on the KCKCC cable television channel this weekend.
The candidate forum can be found on the KCKCC YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMfeRPiOepX3eMxZvUqSyLgAGYAra4qls.
To see earlier stories about the candidates, see:
https://wyandotteonline.com/mikesic-files-for-judge/
https://wyandotteonline.com/kckcc-graduate-speaks-to-american-government-class/