How does Kansas choose its Supreme Court justices? Through a rigorous process that ensures quality.

The Kansas Judicial Center can be seen looking south from the top of the Kansas Statehouse dome. (Photo by Noah Taborda/Kansas Reflector)

Can we agree it’s important to have qualified justices sitting on the Kansas Supreme Court?

By “qualified,” I mean justices who have experience practicing law, justices who cannot be financially compromised, justices who have earned the highest respect from their attorney and judge peers in the legal community, and justices who have not engaged in criminal activity.

If Kansas changes the way we select state Supreme Court justices — from a nonpartisan, merit-based selection process to a popular election — there would be no way to ensure that justices are qualified. Instead, we would select justices based on a candidate’s political savvy and how well they connect with voters. But being a successful politician does not necessarily translate to being a qualified justice on our state’s highest court.

For many decades, Kansas has used a a merit-based process to select justices (as do 23 other states). When a judgeship becomes vacant, through a Supreme Court justice’s retirement or death, a group of nine individuals — called the nominating commission — receives applications from candidates who apply to be a justice. The commission consists of five lawyers and four non-lawyers.

Only lawyers can apply to be a Supreme Court justice. In addition, they must be at least 30 years old, admitted to practice in Kansas and engaged in the active, continuous practice of law for at least 10 years. That includes time spent as a licensed lawyer, a practicing judge or a full-time law professor. This way, the commission guarantees that only attorneys with meaningful legal experience get to the vetting stage.

­­­­During their process, commissioners review each candidate’s application materials, which can be lengthy.

As part of the materials, judicial applicants must provide a copy of their credit report from all three credit-reporting agencies. This is to ensure that the applicant is not in dire financial straits, which is extremely important because a judge in debt is much more likely to solicit or accept a bribe. Debt creates a powerful motive for misconduct, so the commission makes sure the judicial candidate is not at risk of being financially compromised.

Applicants also provide a list of attorneys with whom the applicant has worked in the past, importantly including opposing counsels — attorneys on the other side of a case. The commissioners solicit feedback from those lawyers (and litigants who have appeared before judges) about the applicant’s character and quality of legal work, with opposing counsels often providing the most honest assessments.

Applicants must also identify judges before whom the applicant has appeared, and the commission contacts those judges. As such, the applicants must be respected by the legal community to make it through.

After reviewing the application materials, the commission conducts interviews of each applicant. Members put tough questions to the applicants, which the public can view in real time or later on You Tube. The interview process is completely transparent. When interviews conclude, the commission chooses the three most qualified applicants to send to the governor, who makes the final decision.

However, those three applicants must undergo a background check conducted by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation to guarantee the applicant does not have a criminal background and has not engaged in criminal activity. This ensures our Supreme Court justices have led a life following the law.

If we change our system to popularly elect state Supreme Court justices, all we’ll know about the candidates is what they tell us in their stump speeches, what they put on their yard signs, and what we can find on Google.

Legal experience, good character and professional respect are important qualities in a Supreme Court justice, and the current selection process has ensured the highest-quality candidates sit on our state’s highest court.

Amii Castle is a professor at the University of Kansas, where she teaches at the law and business schools. Through its opinion section, the Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.