Judges pass bar of review process Evaluation determines those on local bench should be retained
By Mike Hall The Capital-Journal Published Saturday, August 30, 2008
All Kansas judges whose names will be on the November ballot for retention are being recommended for approval in a new evaluation process created by the Kansas Legislature.
The Third Judicial District in Shawnee County has 15 judge positions. Eleven of those judges will be on the November ballot.
SHAWNEE COUNTY JUDGES Judges were graded on a system in which a 4.0 was the maximum score. A minimum of 2.0 was needed for a recommendation of retention.
SHAWNEE COUNTY JUDGES
Judges were graded on a system in which a 4.0 was the maximum score. A minimum of 2.0 was needed for a recommendation of retention. Responses were compiled from lawyers, nonlawyers and appeals court judges.
Lawyers Nonlawyers Appeals judges
Richard Anderson 3.62 3.61 3.20
Charles Andrews 3.52 3.59 3.30
Mark Braun - 3.59 3.20
David Bruns 3.61 - 3.20
Larry Hendricks 3.62 3.39 -
Joseph Johnson 2.67 3.07 3.50
Jan Leuenberger - 3.32 2.60
Nancy Parrish - 3.78 3.80
Jean Schmidt 3.65 3.30 3.40
Franklin Theis 3.63 3.37 3.70
Frank Yeoman 3.50 3.18 -
NOTE: Some scores are missing because too few responses were received to evaluate. SOURCE: Kansas Commission on Judicial Performance
www.kansasjudicialperformance.org.
Judges were rated on a scale of 0 to 4, with 4 being perfect. A score of 2.0 or better is required to obtain the recommendation that the judge be retained.
Rich Hayse, a Topeka lawyer, is chairman of the commission. He said no judge got a perfect 4.0 in any category, Judges whose evaluations were released Friday scored mostly between 3.0 and 4.0.
"I'm not surprised by that," he said. "You have to remember all these judges are merit-selected. They have all been through a fairly rigorous selection process.
In some districts in Kansas, judges are elected. In other districts, such as District 3, judges are selected from a field of applicants whose qualifications and backgrounds are scrutinized by a nonpartisan review panel. Three names are submitted to the governor, who selects a judge to fill a vacancy.
All judges in Kansas are subject to the review process, but only the evaluations of judges subject to the retention vote are to be made public.
Judges who must run for re-election will be shown their evaluations for their own self-improvement. But the Kansas Legislature decided it would be unfair to make those evaluations public. Voters wouldn't have access to similar evaluation information on a challenger trying to unseat an incumbent judge.
The 11 Shawnee County District Court judges on the November ballot are
Richard Anderson, Charles Andrews, Mark Braun, David Bruns, Larry Hendricks, Joseph Johnson, Jan Leuenberger, Nancy Parrish, Jean Schmidt, Franklin Theis and Frank Yeoman.
The Supreme Court justices are Lee Johnson and Eric Rosen. Court of appeals judges are Richard Greene, Steve Leben, Christel Marquardt and G. Joseph Pierron.
Three groups of people were asked to grade the judges — lawyers, nonlawyers who have been involved in some court proceeding involving the judge and appeals court judges.
Each person was asked to grade each judge, using the 4.0-point system, on a wide variety of qualifications ranging from "willing to make decisions even if they are not politically popular" to "begins court on time."
Members of the 13-member commission are appointed by the Kansas Judicial Council. Six must be nonlawyers.
Mike Hall can be reached at (785) 295-1209 or mike.hall@cjonline.com.
