A judge from the Kansas Supreme Court and the the Kansas Court of Appeals informed the public on the judicial branch of the government Tuesday evening on the campus of K-State.
Kansas Supreme Court Judge Dan Biles and Judge Karen Arnold-Burger of the Kansas Court of Appeals made a presentation on the history of the Kansas judicial branch, what they do and took questions in the Leadership Studies Building.
While it has been common for judges from the Kansas high court to make these presentations throughout the state, Judge Arnold-Burger told KMAN there’s been more invitations than ever this year.
“Over the last year, I’ve probably gone out 50 times,” she told KMAN following the presentation. “But it’s because it’s what I love to do. As I said, I think I’m a wanna-be teacher, and it’s really a teaching opportunity.”
Judge Biles — who had to decline audience questions on school funding because the case is pending — agreed.
“We’ve done judicial education stuff for years, we really have,” said Biles, who graduated from K-State in 1975. “Because of the publicity about the retention elections, we’ve had a lot more invitations.”
While the retention of state supreme court justices is a normal part of the election day process, there’s been more focus on those retention elections than normal.
The state and its judicial branch have been at odds with each other recently — especially over state education funding.
This year, four former Kansas governors — including Manhattan’s own John Carlin, who made opening remarks before the judges made their presentation Tuesday night — have been campaigning across the state urging the public to retain Kansas Supreme Court justices.
Judge Arnold-Burger said that attention has led to an increased demand in speaking requests.
“Because it is at the forefront of everybody’s mind right now, because there has been such a tension between the legislature and the courts, we are getting many more speaking requests than we’ve ever gotten before,” she said.
Kaitlin Long, who is a program coordinator at the Staley School of Leadership Studies at KSU and helped organize the event, said the education the judges brought to campus was important.
“It really just came out of the idea that we know people and ask ourselves that we just need to be more educated about those issues,” she said.
Sam Hughes, a K-State junior, said he attended the presentation to get a deeper understanding of this year’s election.
“I’m a pre-law student, so that’s my general area of interest,” he said. “And then this being a pretty contended election year, I think the entire ballot is important, not just the people at the top.”
