Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius today will appoint a new state attorney general to replace Paul Morrison, whose sex scandal stunned Kansas politics and led to his resignation.

Sebelius will name Morrison’s replacement at an 11 a.m. news conference in her ceremonial office in the Capitol.

A long list of names have been mentioned as possible choices. Sources have said Douglas County State District Judge Stephen Six was on the short list. Six is the son of retired Kansas Supreme Court Justice Fred Six, and Sebelius appointed him to the bench in 2005. Attempts to reach the judge for comment have been unsuccessful.

Another name mentioned lately has been Shawnee County District Judge Jean Schmidt.

But through the process, Sebelius has refused to give out any information.

“I’m not going to talk about candidates or names at this point,” she said last week. “I don’t think that’s fair to any of the candidates.”

But speculation about the appointment has been high especially when lawmakers returned to the Statehouse this week for the start of the legislative session.

Morrison announced Dec. 14 that he would leave office Jan. 31, just days after admitting he’d had an extramarital affair with a subordinate, Linda Carter, who was administrator of the Johnson County District Attorney’s office when Morrison was the district attorney.