Kansas Gov. Kelly will pick third Supreme Court justice after Beier leaves the bench

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly will have the chance to name a third justice to the state Supreme Court after Justice Carol Beier retires this fall, a departure that will cement Kelly’s mark on the seven-member court.

Beier, 61, announced Friday that she plans to retire on Sept. 18. Her decision sets into motion a merit-based selection process that will end in Kelly choosing the next justice in the coming months.

Since taking office in January 2019, Kelly has named replacements for Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, Justice Lee Johnson and now Beier, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2003.

The newest justice, Evelyn Wilson, joined the court in January. Another, K.J. Wall, has yet to be sworn in.

“Twenty years and thousands of cases since my children helped me put on my robe for the first time, I will pack it away with pride,” Beier said in a statement. “This is possible because I can bear personal witness to the good faith and daily striving of our Kansas courts to be and remain fair and impartial guardians of the rule of law and the rights of all.”

At times, Beier drew the ire of conservatives. A decade ago, anti-abortion activists called on voters to oust the justice with a “Fire Beier” campaign.

In Kansas, justices are regularly placed on the ballot and voters retained Beier in four separate elections. No Kansas Supreme Court justice has ever been denied retention.

Now that Beier has announced her retirement, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission — a nine-member panel made up of attorneys and non-attorneys from across Kansas — will choose three finalists. Kelly will select one of them.

In a letter to Chief Justice Marla Luckert and Kelly on Friday, Beier wrote that when she was sworn onto the court, she promised to read and listen critically, decide clearly and to “remember my sense of humor and humanity.”

“I hope that I have succeeded in reaching these goals,” Beier wrote. “On this, of course, others will be the judge.”

This story was originally published June 12, 2020 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Kansas Gov. Kelly will pick third Supreme Court justice after Beier leaves the bench."