TOPEKA — Republican Gov. Sam Brownback has signed legislation to keep Kansas’ courts open following a legal dispute involving their budget and the state Supreme Court’s power.
Brownback signed the bill Monday, and it will take effect Thursday. The measure repeals a 2015 law threatening the court system’s budget.
That law said the judiciary’s budget through June 2017 would be nullified if the courts struck down a 2014 law.
The 2014 law stripped the Kansas Supreme Court of its power to appoint chief judges in the state’s 31 judicial districts and gave it to local judges instead. The high court invalidated the 2014 law in December.
GOP lawmakers who supported both laws have said they never intended to close the courts. Brownback said questions about judicial funding are now resolved.
