Gov. Sam Brownback went out of his way a couple of weeks ago to assure Kansans that the appointment of his former chief legal counsel to the Kansas Supreme Court wasn’t a done deal.

Caleb Stegall was just one of three people whose names were forwarded to the governor by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission to fill a vacancy on the state’s highest court.

“I have to interview three people here. That’s what I’m going to do,” the governor said, adding, “I take judicial selections very seriously.”

So the governor presumably proceeded to interview all three nominees: Karen Arnold-Burger, who served as a municipal judge in Overland Park for 20 years before being appointed to the Kansas Court of Appeals in 2011; Judge Merlin Wheeler, who has served as a district judge in the 5th Judicial District since 1990; and Stegall, who served as a Jefferson County attorney, general counsel for Americans for Prosperity and as the governor’s general counsel before being appointed by Brownback to the Kansas Court of Appeals, on which he has served since January of this year.

After examining the candidates’ qualifications, Brownback announced on Friday that Stegall was his choice to fill the Supreme Court seat. He made the announcement to members of the news media but declined to answer any of their questions about his choice.

After receiving the three names from the nominating commission and making his claim of neutrality on the list, Brownback had an opportunity to show Kansans that the fix wasn’t in by bypassing Stegall in favor of a candidate with more judicial experience. That wasn’t his choice.

This certainly isn’t the first time that an appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court has been influenced by politics. Stegall’s appointment, however, does illustrate that concern over the Supreme Court Nominating Commission being dominated by supposedly liberal Kansas lawyers has been exaggerated. The four non-attorney members of the nine-member commission all are Brownback appointees, but at least one attorney member also voted to forward Stegall’s name to the governor.

The 42-year-old Stegall can now look forward to a long tenure on the state supreme court unless Kansans are sufficiently unhappy with his service to cast him out in a retention vote, which he will face every six years.

In making his announcement on Friday, Brownback noted, “Selecting justices is one of the most important constitutional duties of a governor…” Most Kansans probably agree with that statement, which is why they may have questions about the governor’s choice of Stegall.