TOPEKA — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Wednesday nominated a public defender in the federal court system to the state’s second highest court.

Kelly cited Carl A. Folsom III’s experience in handling criminal cases as an asset for a judge on the Kansas Court of Appeals. Folsom, who lives in Lawrence, works as an assistant federal public defender in Topeka. He is a lecturer and adjunct professor at the University of Kansas School of Law.

Folsom, 39, would replace former Appeals Judge G. Joseph Pierron Jr., who retired in April after nearly 30 years.

The Democratic governor’s appointment of Folsom is subject to confirmation by the Republican-controlled state Senate. Kelly is asking senators to consider the nomination during a special legislative session that convenes June 3.

If confirmed, Folsom would be Kelly’s second appointment to the 14-member Court of Appeals.

Folsom received his law degree from the University of Kansas in 2005. He worked for the state office that defends poor defendants in appellate cases and then was an attorney in private practice before becoming a federal public defender. He worked in the federal system in Muskogee, Oklahoma, before Topeka.

Folsom was nominated last year for a vacant judgeship in Douglas County District Court that Kelly filled instead with Shawnee County chief public defender Stacey Donovan.