Fourteen Kansas attorneys and judges applied by a noon deadline today to fill a vacancy on the Kansas Supreme Court created by the July 28 departure of Justice Nancy Moritz to serve on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Applicants will be interviewed by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission Aug. 4 and 5 in the Fatzer Courtroom in the Kansas Judicial Center in Topeka. The interview schedule will be posted on the Kansas judicial branch website at www.kscourts.org later in July.
The 14 applicants are Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Karen M. Arnold-Burger, Overland Park, Kan.; Victor J. Braden, lawyer, Lawrence, Kan.; Judge Daniel D. Creitz, Erie, Kan.; Dennis D. Depew, lawyer, Neodesha, Kan.; Linda D. Kirby, lawyer, Wichita, Kan.; David R. Klaassen, lawyer, Marquette, Kan.; Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Thomas E. Malone, Topeka, Kan.; Anthony W. Mattivi, lawyer, Topeka, Kan.; Judge Steven C. Montgomery, Spring Hill, Kan.; Steven J. Obermeier, lawyer, Olathe, Kan.; Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Anthony J. Powell, Wichita, Kan.; Curtis O. Roggow, lawyer, Shawnee, Kan.; Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Caleb Stegall, Lawrence, Kan.; and Judge Merlin G. Wheeler, Emporia, Kan.
Interviews will be open to the public and interested parties are encouraged to attend.
After interviewing applicants, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission will submit names of three qualified individuals to the governor. The governor will then choose from that list who to appoint to fill the Supreme Court vacancy.
The Supreme Court Nominating Commission is an independent body created by the Kansas Constitution. Its members are Anne E. Burke, chair, Overland Park, Kan.; David J. Rebein, Dodge City, Kan.; Linda B. Weis, Manhattan, Kan.; Natalie G. Haag, Topeka, Kan.; Felita R. Kahrs, Topeka, Kan.; Matthew D. Keenan, Leawood, Kan.; Robert Hayworth, Johnson County, Kan.; Jay F. Fowler, Wichita, Kan.; and Gary T. Mason, Maize, Kan.