Kansas voters will be able to access detailed information about district appellate judges and justices up for retention thorough a Web site by the Kansas Commission on Judicial Performance.
“For the first time, Kansas voters will be able to read evaluations of judges that will be up for retention of re-election,” said Michael Grimaldi, director of issues management for the Corporate Communications Group in Overland Park. “What they have done is created this mechanism that the judges that are appointed are evaluated.”
In Lyon County this year, two judges stand for retention election: District Court Judge Jeffry Larson and Chief Judge Merlin Wheeler. According to report information at the commission’s Web site, both judges are recommended for retention by the commission.
The commission was established by the Kansas Legislature in 2006. Its evaluations of judges are based on confidential surveys of people who have “conducted business with the courts and dealt with judges during cases, including attorneys, litigants, witnesses, court staff, jurors, law enforcement personnel and other judges,” a press release stated.
The commission was created with the goal of improving judicial performance of judges, to give voters an opportunity to make an informed decision based on survey results and to protect judicial independence and promote public accountability.
The judges’ survey results are evaluated by the commission, which is made up of 13 members who are appointed by the Kansas Judicial Council.
“The commission includes six non-lawyers; six others who are lawyers, including retired judges and justices; and a chairman, who is a lawyer,” a press release stated. “At least one non-lawyer commission member and at least one lawyer commission member live in each of the state’s four congressional districts.”
Kansas is the seventh state to implement the public information Web site. Grimaldi said this is the first year the information is being made public in Kansas.
“It’s something I think the commission is very proud of,” he said.
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Posted by jayhawker (anonymous) on September 2, 2008 at 3:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I noticed that Judge Larson (who is new to the bench) received much better grades than our other judge up for retention, even though the other judge has been on the bench since 1990. Good job, Judge Larson, although I was a little concerned about the feeling among lawyers that he favors criminal defendants. That is better, however, than the other judge who scored poorly (relative to others) on judicial temperament and fairness issues. I suspect that the other judge has a few ego problems, at least from reading between the lines.
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