Shawnee County is the 3rd Judicial District in Kansas and will soon be replacing District Court Judge Thomas Conklin, who retires on July 4.
A June 23, 2008 press release from the Kansas Judicial Branch indicated the nominating commission will pick the successor to Judge Conklin. But what is known about this commission and does their political makeup reflect Shawnee County?
Thursday’s Kansas Register announced Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ appointment of Katherine Taylor DeBruce, a Democrat from Mission Hills, to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission.
Did the $13,000 contributed to Gov. Sebelius by Katherine DeBruce, her husband Paul DeBruce, and his DeBruce Grain company, have any influence on Sebelius’s appointment to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission? And what about the $5000+ DeBruce Grain gave to the Kansas Democratic Party in 2006 for “plane travel”? (more…)
Today, Governor Kathleen Sebelius appointed one of her political contributors to be a new Johnson County District judge. Sebelius appointed David Wesley Hauber, a Democrat from Shawnee to be the replacement for Judge Janice D. Russell, who retired. Hauber was picked by Sebelius from a list of three Democrats nominated by the 10th District Judicial Nominating Committee.
Tonight there will be a debate in Kansas City at the Zenith Boosters Club: “Judges: Appoint or elect.” The issue of electing judges or appointing judges is a topic in both Kansas and Missouri this year. In Kansas some judges are elected (like in Sedgwick County), while others are appointed (like in Johnson County).
Many supporting the appointment of judges pretend that system is not political and “better.” Others would argue that the appointment system is inherently political, and we’re kidding ourselves if we think it’s not.
Johnson County Kansas voters will decide in a November ballot whether their district court judges will be elected, or whether the judges in the 10th Judicial District will continue to be appointed.
While the public debates how district court judges will be put in office, the current 10th Judicial District Judicial Nominating Commission is working through the process of replacing a retiring judge. (more…)