When a vacancy occurs on the Kansas Supreme Court, a nine-member nominating commission selects three finalists from a pool of applicants. The commission includes five attorneys elected by the Kansas Bar Association and four non-attorneys appointed by the Governor. [1]

The Governor must choose one of the three nominees. If the Governor declines, the Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court makes the appointment. [2]

 According to the non-partisan Ballotpedia, Kansas is the only state that uses a bar-controlled commission—where attorneys elected by the state bar hold a majority of seats—to select Supreme Court nominees. [3]

However, 20 other states use some form of a nominating commission in their selection process. These commissions vary:

• 10 states have governor-controlled commissions
• 12 states use hybrid commissions with no single group in control 

The most common method is election.

• 13 states use nonpartisan elections.
• 8 states use partisan elections.

Supporters of the current model, which they refer to as “merit selection” argue that lawyers are best equipped to select members to the State’s Highest Court. [4] They also contend that the nomination committee helps insulate justices from political influence, allowing decisions to be based on law rather than politics.[5]

Critics argue that the current system is “undemocratic” because it gives members of the state bar disproportionate influence over the nomination process. They note that Kansas is an outlier in having a “bar-controlled commission”, noting that lawyers make up just 0.03% of the state’s population, yet have the ability to effectively shape an entire branch of the state’s government. [6]