As the election approaches there are a group of people on the ballot that we have not seen or heard flashy advertisements for, but these people perform a vital role in our society. These people are our Kansas judges and justices. Each election cycle, some judges and justices who were originally appointed to the bench are on the ballot to stand for a retention vote. The question is: Should each judge/justice be retained? The choices for the voter are yes or no.
Many Kansans do not have interaction with the courts and feel that they really do not have enough information to cast an in-formed vote involving judges and justices. In an attempt to provide more information, the Kansas Judicial Performance Evaluation System was created. Each year when there will be a retention election, those judges and justices who are on the ballot are subject to an independent evaluation process. That process involves detailed questionnaires being completed by attorneys, court personnel and most importantly, regular citizens who have been involved in cases before the judges and justices.
The evaluations are collected and the results made public so that the average voter can see how the judges and justices are doing. The evaluation results are available at www.kansasjudicialperformance.org.
I encourage everyone to see for themselves how our Kansas judges and justices are doing by reading the evaluations. Our local judges on the ballot this year, Magistrate Thomas Saxton and District Judge David Rogers, have both received excellent evaluations and are recommended for retention.
The judges on the Kansas Court of Appeals and the justices on the Kansas Supreme Court who are on the ballot also have received positive evaluations and have been recommended for retention.
Very truly yours,
Dennis D. Depew
Neodesha, Kan.
