photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

The state of Kansas soon will be providing another district court judge to hear cases in Douglas County, which has had a backlog of criminal and civil cases at times.

The Kansas Legislature approved a bill that would provide funding for additional judges in 13 judicial districts in the state, including the 7th Judicial District, which serves Lawrence and Douglas County.

Gov. Laura Kelly still must sign the legislation, but her approval is expected.

Ultimately, Kelly will be responsible for appointing the new Douglas County judge from a list of nominees vetted by a nominations committee that includes various members of the legal community. Douglas County’s chief judge said in an email to the Journal-World that the nomination process means it probably will be several more months before Douglas County has a new judge joining its ranks.

“The nomination process will take some time and I would not expect the nominating committee to get a slate to the Governor sooner than late summer or early fall,” said Douglas County Chief Judge James McCabria.

Douglas County currently has eight regular district court divisions, including pro tem court and juvenile court.

Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Marla Luckert signed an administrative order creating the new judge positions on Friday.

“We continue to evaluate case filings and judge workloads to verify we are able to meet the case processing needs of our communities,” Luckert said in a press release. “This year, when we reported a persistent and growing need for more judges, the Legislature approved our request for funding. We are grateful for their support.” 

The Legislature has provided funding for 14 new district judge positions and nine district magistrate positions. The new judges will be the first added since 2008.

— Reporter Chris Conde contributed to this report.