Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court Steps Down

The Kansas Supreme Court will soon undergo a leadership transition following Chief Justice Marla Luckert’s decision to step down from her role, marking the end of a tenure that has spanned more than two decades on the state’s highest court. In a video announcement, Luckert expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve Kansans and reflected on her path from a small-town upbringing to the state’s highest court. She emphasized the importance of public service and the example she hoped her career set for young people across Kansas. Although she has stepped down from the role of Chief Justice, she will remain a Justice on the Kansas Supreme Court for a few more weeks until officially resigning at a time she will announce at a later date. 

Justice Luckert was appointed by Governor Bill Graves in 2002 and took office in January of 2003. In December of 2019, she succeeded Lawton Nuss to become Chief Justice of Kansas’ highest court. She cites ongoing health concerns following a stroke she suffered in October of 2025 as a central factor in her decision. While noting in her announcement that she is “on a path to recovery” Justice Luckert said she “is not yet able to meet the demands of leading the Kansas Court System” adding that Kansans deserve leadership capable of managing the strenuous schedule of the court. As the Kansas Constitution dictates that the most senior member of the court serve as the Chief Justice, Justice Eric Rosen will take on that role going forward. 

Luckert’s departure marks the end of one of the longest tenures on the Kansas Supreme Court in recent history. Appointed in 2002, she served more than two decades on the state’s highest court, and her departure underscores the current, turbulent state of the judiciary in Kansas, given the upcoming constitutional amendment vote. She leaves behind a storied career on the bench, and numerous high profile decisions that have helped shape Kansas. Notable among the rulings made by the Supreme Court during her tenure were Hodes & Nauser v. Schmidt (2019), in which Luckert joined a 6–1 majority recognizing that the Kansas Constitution protects a fundamental right to abortion, and subjecting state restrictions to strict scrutiny; State v. Carr (2014), where the court vacated the death sentences of Jonathan and Reginald Carr after finding constitutional and procedural errors in the penalty phase of their trial, a decision later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court; and the court’s involvement in the state’s 2022 redistricting dispute, in which it ultimately upheld the Legislature’s congressional map after reversing a lower court ruling that had found the plan unconstitutional. Luckert also served in the majority in Gannon v. State, a series of decisions holding that the Legislature failed to meet the Kansas Constitution’s requirements for adequate and equitable public-school funding.

Once Justice Luckert formally resigns, the current selection process will begin, in which the Supreme Court Nominating Commission will accept application and screen the candidates, finally presenting their three-person shortlist to Governor Kelly, who has sixty days to make an appointment. Her resignation will give Governor Kelly a fifth opportunity to select a Justice for the Supreme Court, having already selected successors for  just months before Kansans will vote on the method of selecting their Supreme Court Justices. With control of the Kansas Supreme Court already the subject of public debate, this development adds new urgency to broader questions about judicial selection methods in Kansas.