Twenty persons are candidates for a vacancy on the Kansas Supreme Court created by the Sept. 8 retirement of Justice Lee Johnson, according to a news release from the Kansas courts.
One of the applicants is Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Thomas E. Malone of Topeka.
The list includes Wyandotte County District Court Judge Daniel Cahill of Kansas City, Kansas.
The other applicants include Kristafer R. Ailslieger, lawyer, Topeka; 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; 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; and Marcia A. Wood, lawyer, Wichita.
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.”
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.