Replacement process could take several months / LJWorld.com

Archive for Saturday, January 19, 2008

January 19, 2008

County to begin search for new judge

Here in Douglas County, the search is on for a replacement for the District Court seat left open with Stephen Six's departure to Topeka. Enlarge video

Sebelius names county judge to AG post

A Douglas County District Court judge will soon leave his robe and gavel behind and head to Topeka to take over as Kansas Attorney General. Enlarge video

Judge Six named Kansas A.G.

Sebelius appoints Douglas County Judge Stephen Six as new attorney general Enlarge video

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A judicial nominating commission for Douglas County soon will take applications to replace District Court Judge Stephen Six, whom Gov. Kathleen Sebelius named Friday as Kansas attorney general.

Until an official replacement is sworn in, William Lyle, a retired district judge from Reno County in Hutchinson, will help handle the caseload in Douglas County, said Ron Keefover, a Kansas Judicial Branch spokesman.

The county's administrative judge issued a congratulatory statement to Six.

"He is an excellent choice for the position. He will bring the utmost integrity, diligence, intelligence and wisdom to that office," Douglas County Chief Judge Robert Fairchild said in a written statement. "At the same time, Judge Six's appointment as attorney general is a great loss for our judicial district."

Fairchild, who is out of town due to a family illness, said Six was well-liked by judicial colleagues and court staff.

The nominating commission will begin taking applications soon, Keefover said. Eventually its members will conduct interviews and send two or three names to Sebelius, who will appoint one person from the list.

Kansas Supreme Court Justice Eric Rosen will organize the process, and he is a nonvoting chairman for the commission.

The commission is made up of three Douglas County lawyers: Ed Collister Jr., John W. Nitcher and Janine A. Cox. Also, the three nonlawyers on the panel are Kurt von Achen, Eudora, and John Frick and Milton Scott, Lawrence.

Sebelius appointed Six to fill the county's newest judgeship in 2005.

During that selection process, the commission sent to Sebelius the names of Six, Peggy C. Kittel, a judge pro tem in Douglas County, and James George, a Lawrence defense attorney who also has worked as a small-claims court judge.

Fairchild said selecting Six's replacement could take three to four months.