photo by: Mackenzie Clark

New Douglas County District Court Judge Stacey Donovan, right, accepts a gavel from Shawnee County court reporter Miranda Cummings at Donovan's swearing-in ceremony on Friday, March 13, 2020. It was a departure from standard procedure of Douglas County District Court, but a tradition of Shawnee County, where Donovan was chief public defender prior to her appointment.

In likely the last packed Douglas County District Court hearing until further notice, Stacey Donovan was sworn in as a judge on Friday.

Donovan, who was previously chief public defender in Shawnee County, was appointed to the judgeship vacated by now-retired Judge Peggy Carr Kittel.

Despite concerns as the global pandemic coronavirus disease spreads and orders limit the public presence in the courthouse, Donovan’s family members and supporters filled the seats and lined the walls in the Division 2 courtroom. The court even livestreamed the ceremony in an overflow courtroom down the hall.

Among those in attendance were Donovan’s two daughters, ages 13 and 16, and her husband of 28 years.

Taking the bench for the first time — although she’ll actually preside over Division 6 — Donovan thanked those who came for risking their health to be there.

“It’s a good view from up here,” she also noted, prompting laughter.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

New Douglas County District Court Judge Stacey Donovan takes the bench for the first time at her swearing-in ceremony on Friday, March 13, 2020.

Donovan, of Lawrence, graduated from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1997 and has been an adjunct professor there since 2008, the Journal-World has reported. She grew up in Salina after her family moved there from Manhattan when she was 7, she said Friday.

From the bench, Donovan said she loved every minute of her career as a public defender. She loved “fighting tooth and nail” with prosecutors during court but being friends outside the courtroom; and she loved going to the jail and working with defendants, helping them to find treatment, housing and case managers as needed.

She said she learned quickly that people don’t usually walk into court for happy reasons, and she understood that we “all rise” when the judge walks into the room in a black robe “because of the gravity of what’s happening.”

Donovan shook things up with a tradition from Shawnee County District Court: court reporter Miranda Cummings read Donovan a poem written for her before handing her the gavel.

Wendell Betts, a former defense attorney from Topeka with whom Donovan tried about 15 cases, also spoke at the ceremony, occasionally causing Donovan to blush. But he said that she is honest, hardworking, witty and never afraid to dive deep into cases, and that “she’ll serve with integrity and dignity.”

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

New Douglas County District Court Judge Stacey Donovan, second from left, blushes during a speech from Wendell Betts at her swearing-in ceremony on Friday, March 13, 2020.

Gov. Laura Kelly selected Donovan from three finalists that a panel had nominated. Of at least the most recent four judges selected to serve Douglas County District Court, Donovan is the only one who was working as a defense attorney rather than a prosecutor at the time she was appointed.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

New Douglas County District Court Judge Stacey Donovan, second from left, gets a hug from Shawnee County District Judge Nancy E. Parrish at Donovan’s swearing-in ceremony on Friday, March 13, 2020.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Douglas County District Court Chief Judge James McCabria closes the swearing-in ceremony for new judge Stacey Donovan, in the background, on Friday, March 13, 2020.

photo by: Mackenzie Clark

Judges, current and former, fill the jury box in the Division 2 courtroom of Douglas County District Court on Friday, March 13, 2020, for the swearing-in ceremony of Stacey Donovan.