Seated (L to R): Hon. Marla J. Luckert, Hon. Lawton R. Nuss, Chief Justice; Hon. Carol A. Beier. Standing (L TO R): Hon. Dan Biles, Hon. Eric S. Rosen, Hon. Lee A. Johnson, and Hon. Caleb Stegall.
By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
A proposed constitutional amendment to change the way Kansas Supreme Court justices are selected failed in the House on Thursday.
The measure received 68 votes for and 54 votes against. To pass, proposed constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority, which is 84 votes in the 125-member House.
Reps. Sue Boldra, R-Hays, and Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, both voted in favor of the change.
Currently, justices on the seven-member court are chosen by the governor, who is given a choice of three candidates from the Supreme Court Nominating Commission. The nonpartisan commission is made up of five attorneys and four non-attorneys.
HCR 5005 would have given the governor direct power to choose a justice, subject to Senate confirmation.
The two area legislators, along with Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, R-Grinnell, expressed their support to change the selection process during Saturday’s Coffee and Conversation, presented by the Hays Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I am upset with our present state supreme court,” Boldra said. “As a government teacher, I think the federal model is where we ought to go. You don’t elect those attorneys that choose the three names.”