Former District Judge John Sanderson is enjoying his retirement, which started Tuesday after 18 years on the bench as Division 1 judge of the Fifth Judicial District.
Sanderson was sworn in April 8, 1988. That was a Friday. The following Monday, he was hearing his first case.
Sanderson said he saw a lot of changes during his 18 years on the bench.
“The real change in those 18 years is when the state created the community corrections department,” Sanderson said. “It includes juvenile and adult community corrections.”
Drug court also started during those 18 years, Sanderson said. According to a 2005 article in The Gazette, drug court is an intensive program that requires offenders to get clean, get jobs and get treatment. And it uses rewards and punishments to achieve the goal. It’s a program that brings together probation officers, treatment counselors and the judge to make it work.
“It’s really been a tremendous change in the supervision of probationers,” Sanderson said.
By 1990,Sanderson said, the workload in the Fifth Judicial District was so heavy that another judge became a necessity.
“There’s never a day where you have to sit and ask ‘see, what do I have to do today?’” he said.
Sanderson’s title now is retired assigned judge. While he’s retired, he can still be assigned to cases in Lyon and Chase counties.
“There are times down there when you get behind,” he said. “There’s very little time that’s not assigned to a case.”
Sanderson recalled a case that struck him over his years on the bench. He covered a civil case in Harvey county. The case was whether or not you could sell aviation gas and not pay taxes on it.
“The city and county wanted additional tax,” Sanderson said. “They called it a fuel flowage fee.”
Sanderson ruled against the tax. The case ended up coming to Lyon County and got the same ruling.
Sanderson also recalled some brutal child in need of care cases and messy custody battles. He also remembers some cases involving juvenile offenders.
“It’s nice when you can keep them out of jail,” Sanderson said. “But sometimes you can’t.”
Sometimes the best place for offenders is prison, Sanderson said.
“I can’t put someone on probation that has killed someone,” he said. “Also, killing someone while under the influence of alcohol is a serious crime.”
Sanderson said he enjoyed being a judge.
“One (reason) was the pure practice of law,” he said.
Sanderson also enjoyed less paperwork while serving on the bench.
“There’s a lot of administrative work that went into being a partner in a law firm,” he said. “The state gives you an office and an administrative assistant. The administration work really is reduced.”
He also liked the location of his office.
“You don’t have to walk far to get to work,” he said, with a smile. “You leave your office and go right into the courtroom.”
The support of the Lyon County commissioners is another plus, Sanderson added.
“A lot of things the court does are funded by the county,” Sanderson said. “You have to have a good relationship with the county commissioners. Since I’ve been a judge, they’ve been really supportive of us.”
Sanderson also enjoyed the title of being a judge.
“There’s something good about being called ‘your honor’ as opposed to being called ‘hey you,’” he said.
Sanderson said after 18 years and him being 68 years old it was time to retire.
“I could never see myself dying on the bench,” he said. “You get to the point where you’re not as sharp mentally, too. I figured 68 was fine. I have my health and there are a lot of things I want to do and by golly I can’t do them as a judge.”
Some of those things Sanderson plans to do include working on his property north of Emporia. He wants to be more active in the American Legion, too, he said. He’s also taken on extra responsibilities at church.
“I’ve never been to New England,” he said, of some traveling he and his wife, Joann, plan to do.
In July the couple plans to take a road trip to Alaska. They purchased an all-wheel drive car so they’re ready for the occasion. They plan on spending 30 to 45 days doing that, Sanderson said.
“This (retirement) is going to be fun,” Sanderson said.
Sanderson has two children, Christopher and Julie. Julie has two children, Allison, 7, and Abigail, 4. He plans on spending more time with his grandchildren, who live near Council Grove.
“Every kid should have a happy childhood,” he said. “They should have good memories.”