Kansas intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

2020 State Judicial Elections
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The terms of five Kansas Court of Appeals justices expired on January 11, 2021. There were five seats up for retention election on November 3, 2020. A full term on the court is four years. The filing deadline was August 3, 2020.

Election procedure changes in 2020

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.

Kansas did not modify any procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Candidates and results

Position 4: Warner's seat

General election candidates

• Sarah Warner  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Position 6: Bruns' seat

General election candidates

• David E. Bruns  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Position 8: Atcheson's seat

General election candidates

• G. Gordon Atcheson  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Position 9: Arnold-Burger's seat

General election candidates

• Karen Arnold-Burger  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Position 14: Gardner's seat

General election candidates

• Kathryn Gardner  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Past elections

2018

See also: Kansas intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Position 1

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Stephen Hill (Nonpartisan)	74.7	681,026
		Other/Write-in votes	25.3	230,633

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 911,659
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Position 5

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Kim R. Schroeder (Nonpartisan)	75.5	684,477
		Other/Write-in votes	24.5	222,665

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 907,142
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Position 7

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Henry Green (Nonpartisan)	74.3	666,933
		Other/Write-in votes	25.7	231,022

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 897,955
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Position 10

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Powell (Nonpartisan)	73.3	659,701
		Other/Write-in votes	26.7	240,517

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 900,218
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Position 11

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thomas E. Malone (Nonpartisan)	74.2	666,342
		Other/Write-in votes	25.8	232,151

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 898,493
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Position 12

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Michael Buser (Nonpartisan)	66.7	597,509
		Other/Write-in votes	33.3	298,030

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 895,539
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Position 13

General election

General election for Kansas Court of Appeals

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melissa Standridge (Nonpartisan)	69.2	620,903
		Other/Write-in votes	30.8	276,479

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 897,382
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Click [show] at the right to view more past election results.

2016 Steve Leben was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Leben's Seat election with 59.81% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Leben's Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes Steve Leben 59.81% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results Joseph Pierron was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Pierron's Seat election with 59.47% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Pierron's Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes Joseph Pierron 59.47% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results David E. Bruns was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Bruns' Seat election with 71.90% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Bruns' Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes David E. Bruns 71.90% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results G. Gordon Atcheson was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Atcheson's Seat election with 59.38% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Atcheson's Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes G. Gordon Atcheson 59.38% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results Karen Arnold-Burger was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Arnold-Burger's Seat election with 60.18% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Arnold-Burger's Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes Karen Arnold-Burger 60.18% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results Kathryn Gardner was retained in the Kansas Court of Appeals, Gardner's Seat election with 72.87% of the vote. Kansas Court of Appeals, Gardner's Seat, 2016 Name Yes votes Kathryn Gardner 72.87% Source: Kansas Secretary of State Official Results

Selection

See also: Judicial selection in Kansas

Under a process signed into law by Republican Governor Sam Brownback on July 1, 2013, nominees to this court are selected by the governor of Kansas and are subject to approval by the Kansas State Senate. Under the previous selection system, the Kansas State Senate did not vote to approve or disapprove of the governor's selection; instead, a commission of five lawyers selected by the state bar and four nonlawyers selected by the governor interviewed candidates and selected three names to send to the governor, who made the final selection.

Supporters of the new system, including Governor Brownback, claimed it encouraged more public involvement and public attention to judicial selection than the previous process. Supporters also highlighted the increased role played by the governor and the legislature in lieu of an appointed judicial commission. However, critics of the new system claimed that it allowed governors to appoint a supporter or friend privately without disclosing the names or qualifications of other candidates. Critics also claimed that the new system essentially served as a check on Democratic governors, because Republicans had historically held the majority in the Kansas State Senate.

Judges serve terms of four years. The mandatory age of retirement for a Kansas Court of Appeals judge is 75, but a judge who reaches that age mid-term may serve out the remainder of their term. Newly appointed judges serve for a term of at least one year, after which they must run in a yes-no retention election to serve a full four-year term.

The chief judge of the Kansas Court of Appeals is chosen by the other members of the Kansas Court of Appeals. Before July 1, 2014, the chief judge had been appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court.

Qualifications

To serve on the Kansas Court of Appeals, a judge must:

• have at least 10 years of active and continuous law practice in the state;
• be at least thirty years old; and
• be no older than 75. If a sitting judge turns 75 while on the bench, he or she may serve out the term.

See also

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Kansas Court of Appeals

Footnotes

Kansas courts

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Federal courts:

Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Kansas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Kansas

State courts:

Kansas Supreme Court • Kansas Court of Appeals • Kansas District Courts • Kansas Municipal Courts

State resources:

Courts in Kansas • Kansas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Kansas