Kansas judicial elections

Judges in Kansas participate in retention elections or partisan elections. Judicial elections in Kansas are held during even-numbered years.

Kansas is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.

Supreme Court	Court of Appeals	District Court
Retention election - Six-year terms	Retention election - Four-year terms	Retention election or partisan election - Four-year terms

Elections[edit]

Election rules[edit]

Primary election[edit]

Only district court judges in districts that hold partisan elections participate in the primary. The candidate with the most votes from each party in the primary goes on to represent that party in the general election.^[1]

The districts with partisan election of judges are:

General election[edit]

Appellate judges and appointed district court judges participate in retention elections. Candidates in the districts above advance from the primary election.

Retention election[edit]

In retention elections, judges do not compete against another candidate, but voters are given a "yes" or "no" choice whether to keep the justice in office for another term. If a candidate receives a majority of "yes" votes, that person is retained for another term. If not, that position will become a vacancy upon the term's expiration.^[3]

Filing deadline[edit]

The filing deadline for election (not retention) candidates is June 1 of the election year.^[4]

Fees[edit]

There is a $35 campaign finance report fee collected by the Governmental Ethics Commission for all candidates except retention judges. All candidates must pay a $20 administrative fee to the Secretary of State. There is no further fee for judges of the supreme court and court of appeals, but district court judges also pay a fee equal to 1% of their salary.^[4]

History[edit]

Judges in Kansas were elected by the people until 1958. A constitutional amendment in this year changed the process for supreme court justices to stand in retention elections. In 1972, another amendment gave districts the option to choose district court judges with merit selection and retention elections. To do so, a district needs to have 5% of the electors in the district sign a petition to be submitted to the secretary of state. The proposition will then appear on the ballot at the next general election, and needs the majority to approve it to pass. Some districts chose retention for district court judges, and some continued to use partisan elections.^[5]

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

Kansas courts

Federal courts:

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Kansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Kansas

State courts:

Kansas Supreme Court • Kansas Court of Appeals • Kansas District Courts • Kansas Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Kansas • Kansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kansas

[1] Kansas Secretary of State: Election Standards - Election Administration Scroll to p."II-5"

[2] Kansas Judicial Branch, Nominating Commissions

[3] Kansas State Library, "Kansas Constitution, Article Three," accessed April 28, 2014

[candidate-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kansas Secretary of State, "Chapter IV. Candidates," April 1, 2012

[5] American Judicature Society, "History of Reform Efforts: Kansas," accessed April 29, 2014

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