TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s top staff attorney is among 21 applicants for an opening on the state’s second-highest court.
Brownback Chief Counsel Caleb Stegall was joined by five lower-court judges in meeting Friday’s deadline to apply for the Court of Appeals.
They included Sedgwick County District Judge Tony Powell of Wichita, a former Kansas House member.
The applicants are seeking the seat held by Judge Christel Marquardt. She plans to retire in January after 17 years on the 13-member court.
A statewide nominating commission will interview the applicants next month and send the names of three finalists to Brownback.
It will be the conservative Republican governor’s second appointment to the Court of Appeals.
The court has another vacancy because Chief Judge Richard Greene died earlier this week.