Topeka ? Concerned that no minorities have been appointed to a state judgeship for the past eight years, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has told judicial nominating commissions that she wants to appoint more minority judges.

“The bottom line is this: the Kansas bench should look like Kansas,” she said in a letter sent Jan. 23 to the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, district court nominating commissions and county commissioners. The nominating commissions provide candidates from which the governor chooses to fill judgeships. County commissioners help select members of the district nominating commissions.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission gave Sebelius the names of three people for an appointment to the Kansas Court of Appeals. They are three white men.

Richard Hite of Wichita, chairman of the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, said Friday that he had not yet received Sebelius’ letter. But even if Hite had received the letter, he said he would have nominated the same three men because they were the most qualified out of 47 applicants.

“The job assigned to us is to select those we believe would be the best appellate judges, the ones most Kansans would like to have if they had a case in the appellate courts,” Hite said.

The three nominees are two district judges and one attorney.

In choosing the attorney, the nominating commission passed over Jennifer Lynn Jones, a black female municipal court judge from Wichita, who in the past had been a district judge.

Hite said having a practicing attorney on the court would broaden the court’s view.

“The members of the court simply need to take into account the problems and viewpoints and practical concerns that practicing lawyers have,” he said.

Under state law, Sebelius must pick one of those three candidates or give up the selection to the state’s chief justice.

Once that appointment is made, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission will reconvene to submit the names of a second panel to fill another vacancy on the Kansas Court of Appeals.

¢ Graves 0-55 in minority judicial appointments (12-16-03)¢ Information on the Kansas judicial selection process

Keeping credibility

In her letter, Sebelius said Kansas’ minority population was growing every year.

“Having a judiciary that reflects this changing racial and ethnic makeup is critical to maintain the credibility of our system,” she said.

Sebelius raised concerns about the lack of minorities in judicial positions after a Journal-World report showed that her immediate predecessor, Bill Graves, appointed no minorities to the bench in his eight years as governor.

Sebelius said she didn’t blame Graves. Of the nominees for 55 judgeships, Graves was given only one minority candidate from the nominating commissions.

Sebelius said in her letter: “One of the fundamental problems is a lack of applicants from under-represented communities.”

She said she would work hard to reach out to those communities, and she urged the nominating commissions to do the same.

William Richards Sr., president of the Topeka branch of the NAACP, said he was glad to hear that Sebelius was seeking diversity in her judicial appointments. But he was upset that the first nominees she received included no minorities.

“That’s unfortunate,” Richards said. “I would be very much concerned about that.”

He theorized that the nomination process possibly was under way before Sebelius made her wishes known. But, Richardson added, that was still no excuse. He also said minorities needed to be more assertive in applying for the openings.

Tom Wright, a Topeka attorney who has served eight years on the Supreme Court Nominating Commission, said minorities seldom applied for the judicial positions.

“The question is: How do you go out and recruit? That has been a difficult situation for a long time,” Wright said. “I call, other people call to try to get a wide diversity.”

‘Old excuse’

State Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, called Wright’s explanation “an old excuse. Qualified minority applicants are there.”

Hensley said he was shocked that the nominating commission would not listen to the governor’s wishes.

“If she runs into obstacles, we may have to take legislative action,” he said.

Hensley said he had no specific plan of action, but added, “if the message is delivered by the Legislature and the executive branch that we are serious about having a more responsive selection process, hopefully things will change.”