Senate advances amendment to let Kansas voters elect justices to state Supreme Court

TOPEKA, Kan. (KWCH) - The Kansas Senate adopted a constitutional amendment on Thursday that, if ultimately approved, would change the way justices are selected for the state’s highest court.

The proposed amendment would leave Kansas Supreme Court justice appointments up to Kansas voters.

A news release from Senate President Ty Masterson, R-Andover, said if adopted by the House, the amendment “would go to the ballot in August of 2026 for a vote of the people.”

A simple majority approval would clear the way Kansas’s Supreme Court selection process from a merit-based system to elections.

Masterson issued the following statement after the Senate vote to adopt the amendment:

“Kansas currently stands alone as the only state in the union that enshrines the power to decide who sits on our highest court to a commission controlled by five lawyers selected by other lawyers. This outlier system has failed, producing an often-overturned court that has no real accountability to the people. Rather than a system that consolidates authority in the hands of an elite society of super voters, it’s time to restore that power to all.”

Masterson said that 22 states “use a form of direct elections for their state supreme court.”

“While a number of states use a nominating commission, Kansas stands alone as the only state in the union with a bar-controlled commission,” the senate president said.

Wednesday’s vote to advance the justice selection amendment was a 27-13 count, with most Senate Democrats opposed to the plan for elections to determine Supreme Court spots.

A primary concern from the minority party in Kansas is that Supreme Court justices could be compromised with money influencing political campaigns.

“Today, a supermajority of Senate Republicans voted to put our state Supreme Court up for sale to the highest bidder,” Kansas Senate Democratic Leader Dinah Sykes, D-Lenexa, said. “The Supermajority likes to pretend this is about letting the voters decide, but what this is really about is allowing outside, special interests to buy their preferred court so they can get the rulings they want on school funding, reproductive rights, and voting rights.”

The Kansas Judicial Branch explains that in 1958, Kansans voted to add the merit-based nomination process for Supreme Court vacancies to the state constitution.

“The commission narrows the nominee pool to three names that it sends to the governor,” the Kansas Judicial Branch explained. “The governor chooses one nominee to appoint.”

The Supreme Court Nominating Commission has nine members, one lawyer and one nonlawyer from each of the state’s four congressional districts and one lawyer who serves as the chairperson.

Lawyers across Kansas elect the chairperson, the state explained. Regardless of the selection process, the state spells out eligibility requirements for Supreme Court nominees.

A Kansas Supreme Court nominee must be at least 30 years old and “a lawyer admitted to practice in Kansas and engaged in the practice of law for at least 10 years, whether as a lawyer, judge, or full-time teacher at an accredited law school.”