Two District Judges chosen to sit with the Kansas Supreme Court

August 25, 2011

Kansas: When state Supreme Court judges need to recuse themselves from a case (due to bias, personal reasons, etc.) the court often calls upon respected to trial court judges to hear cases in their place. This is the case in Kansas this week, where two District Court judges have been chosen to sit on the state Supreme Court for a day to replace Justice Nancy Moritz. Moritz recused herself because she was a member of the Court of Appeals when the rulings, which are now being reviewed by the high court, were first decided.

The honor of replacing Moritz goes to Jerome P. Hellmer, Chief Judge of the 28th Judicial District, and to Judge Frank Yeoman, Jr. of the 3rd Judicial District. Heller, who has been a district judge for almost 20 years, will sit with the court on Monday, August 29th, to hear two oral arguments regarding petitions for review of medical malpractice cases. Yeoman, who has served on the District Court for almost 22 years, has been chosen to serve on Wednesday, August 31st, to hear oral arguments in a civil case appeal. Both judges will also participate in the subsequent deliberations and opinion drafting.