Kansas Question 1, Supreme Court Nominating Commission Amendment (1958)

Kansas Question 1
Election date November 4, 1958
Topic State judiciary
Status Approved
Type Legislatively referred constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature

Kansas Question 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in Kansas on November 4, 1958. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to provide for the appointment of state Supreme Court justices by a nominating commission and require justices to stand for retention elections one year after appointment.

A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution, thereby maintaining the existing partisan election system for state Supreme Court justices.

Election results

Kansas Question 1
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		280,159	59.99%
No		186,884	40.01%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for Question 1 was as follows:

“

Shall the following be adopted? "The constitution of the state of Kansas is hereby amended by striking out the whole of sections 2, 5, 11 and 18 of article 3 of said constitution and inserting in lieu of said sections the following which shall constitute section 2 of article 3 of said constitution: Section 2. (a) Supreme court. The supreme court will consist of seven justices who shall be selected as provided by this section. All cases shall be heard by the whole court with not fewer than four justices sitting, and the concurrence of four justices shall be necessary to a decision. The term of office of the justices shall be six years, except as hereinafter provided. The justice who is senior in continuous term of service shall be chief justice, and in case two or more have continuously served during the same period the senior in age of these shall be chief justice. (b) District courts. The state shall be divided into judicial districts as provided by law. Each judicial district shall have at least one district judge. The term of office of each judge of the district court shall be four years. District courts shall be held at such times and places as may be provided by law. The district judges shall be elected by the electors of the respective judicial districts. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in the office of district judge, it shall be filled by appointment by the governor until the next general election that shall occur more than thirty days after such vacancy. (c) Residence requirements. All judicial officers provided by article 3 of the constitution shall reside in their respective townships, counties or districts at the time of their nomination, selection or election and during their respective terms of office. (d) Filling of vacancies in, and appointments to, supreme court. (1) Any vacancy occurring in the office of any justice of the supreme court, and any position to be open in the supreme court as the result of retirement, or failure of the incumbent to file his declaration of candidacy to succeed himself as hereinafter required, or failure of a justice to be elected to succeed himself, shall be filled by appointment by the governor of one of three persons possessing the qualifications of office who shall be nominated and whose names shall be submitted to the governor by the supreme court nominating commission established as hereinafter provided. (2) In the event of the failure of the governor to make the appointment within sixty days from the time the names of the nominees are submitted to him, the chief justice of the supreme court shall make the appointment from such nominees. (e) Tenure of supreme court justices; declaration of candidacy; form of ballot; rejection and retention. Each justice of the supreme court appointed pursuant to the provisions of subsection (d) (1) of this section shall hold office for an initial term ending on the second Monday in January following the next general election after the expiration of twelve months in office. Any justice holding office at the time the provisions of this section become applicable to his office, shall, unless removed for cause, remain in office for the term or unexpired term to which he was elected or appointed. Not less than sixty days prior to the holding of the general election next preceding the expiration of his term of office, any justice of the supreme court may file in the office of the secretary of state a declaration of candidacy for election to succeed himself. If a declaration is not so filed the position held by such justice shall be open upon the expiration of his term of office. If such declaration is filed his name shall be submitted at the next election to the electors of the state on a separate judicial ballot, without party designation, reading substantially as follows: Shall (Here insert the name of justice) (Here insert the title of the court) be retained in office? If a majority of those voting on the question vote against retaining him in office, the position of office which he holds shall be open upon the expiration of his term of office; otherwise he shall, unless removed for cause, remain in office for the regular term of six years, from the second Monday in January following such election. At the expiration of each term he shall, unless by law he is compelled to retire, be eligible for retention in office by election in the manner prescribed in this section. (f) Supreme court nominating commission. (1) A nonpartisan nominating commission whose duty it shall be to nominate and submit to the governor names of persons for appointment to fill vacancies in the office of any justice of the supreme court is hereby established, and shall be known as the “supreme court nominating commission.” Said commission shall be organized as hereinafter provided. (2) The supreme court nominating commission shall be composed as follows: One member, who shall be chairman, chosen from among their number by the members of the bar who are residents and licensed in Kansas; one member from each congressional district chosen from among their number by the resident members of the bar in the district; and one member, who is not a lawyer, from each congressional district, appointed by the governor from among the residents of the district. (3) The terms of office, the procedure for selection and certification of the members of the commission and provisions for their compensation or expenses shall be as provided by the legislature. (4) No member of the supreme court nominating commission shall, while he is a member, hold any other public office by appointment or any official position in a political party or for six months thereafter be eligible for nomination for the office of justice of the supreme court. The commission may act only by the concurrence of a majority of its members. (g) Implementing legislation. The legislature shall, at the next regular session after the election at which this amendment is adopted by the electors of the state, enact such laws as may be appropriate to make all the provisions of this section effective in operation. (h) Qualifications of justices and judges. Justices of the supreme court and judges of the district courts shall be at least thirty years of age and shall be duly authorized by the supreme court of Kansas to practice law in the courts of this state, and shall possess such other qualifications as may be prescribed by law. (i) Prohibition of political activity by justices of the supreme court. No justice of the supreme court who is appointed or retained under the procedure of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (d) and subsections (e) and (f) of this section shall directly or indirectly make any contribution to or hold any office in a political party or organization or take part in any political campaign. (j) Effective dates. Except for subsection (g) of this section, this amendment shall become effective July 1, 1959. Subsection (g) of this section shall become effective immediately upon the adoption of this amendment by the electors of the state." [ ] Yes [ ] No

”

Full Text

The full text of this measure is available here.

Path to the ballot

A two-thirds vote is required during one legislative session for the Kansas State Legislature to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 27 votes in the Kansas State Senate and 84 votes in the Kansas House of Representatives, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

See also

1958 Measures

• 1958 Measures
• State judiciary on the ballot
• 1958 legislative sessions

Kansas

• Kansas ballot measures
• Kansas ballot measure laws

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External links

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