TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - The Kansas Legislature is moving forward with a plan to change the way justices are selected for the Kansas Supreme Court.
The Kansas House approved SCR 1611, a constitutional amendment that will now show up on primary ballots in 2026. The Senate passed the proposal earlier this month.
The amendment would abolish the Supreme Court Nominating Commission in favor of direct selection by Kansas voters. A recurring election for justices would replace retention votes currently used to decide whether a justice keeps their seat or not.
As of now, the nominating commission is comprised of five Kansas lawyers elected by their fellow practitioners and four members appointed by the governor who review candidates and conduct public interviews before sending three finalists to the governor for appointment.
Supreme Court vacancies are filled using a merit-based nomination process that Kansans voted to add to the Kansas Constitution in 1958. When there is a vacancy on the bench, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission reviews applications and conducts public interviews of nominees. The commission narrows the nominee pool to three names that it sends to the governor. The governor chooses one nominee to appoint.
Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission
Senate President Ty Masterson issued a statement following the House’s passage Wednesday. He says the amendment puts power back in the hands of Kansans.
“In August of 2026, Kansans can reclaim power from the elites who have controlled the Kansas Supreme Court for nearly 70 years,” Sen Masterson wrote. “This amendment asks a simple question: should lawyers chosen by other lawyers decide who sits on our highest court, or should that power belong to all Kansans? I trust the people.”
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach echoed the sentiment.
“Today marks a historic turning point in Kansas,” Kobach said. “Voters will now get to decide whether to reclaim the right to vote for justices, which they enjoyed from statehood until 1958. Polling shows that Kansans overwhelmingly prefer voting on Supreme Court Justices to the status quo. Seventy-four percent support the direct election of Supreme Court Justices, while only 20% like the current attorney-controlled system.”
The ACLU of Kansas calls it a power grab by extremist politicians, and an attack on a judicial branch that has ruled against lawmakers on several recent occasions. The amendment will be on the ballots next August, for the 2026 Primary Election.
“This is a blatant attack by the legislators on our justices, and it’s part of a decades-long pattern of politicians attempting to punish the judicial branch for issuing decisions on education and reproductive freedom that they disagree with. We are confident that, just as they did in 2022, the people of Kansas will see this attack for what it is – and once again take action to defend their constitutional rights from the power grabs of extremist politicians in Topeka.
Partisan elections quickly become fights between out-of-state, big money interests. These elections become less about the voters and constituents of the state and more an opportunity for out-of-state big money interests to wage war against one another. And now, lawmakers would like our state’s highest court to be smack in the middle of that war.
For all of the grand statements from Attorney General Kris Kobach and supporters of this proposed amendment about including the voices of voters, they placed this on the ballot for next August’s primary election – when lower voter turnout is almost guaranteed.
And for all of the framing of this from proponents as being about how nominating commissions couldn’t possibly ever deliver good government or good process, at the very same moment, the legislature is advancing changes that would create a nominating commission for other vacancies in state government or federal office.”
Micah Kubic, ALCU of Kansas Executive Director