Hansen Foundation
LOGAN - Area residents are invited to come to Logan on April 29 for a unique opportunity to view the Kansas justice system in action.
Nearly 300 area students will be among the audience on April 29 when the Kansas Supreme Court will visit Logan as part of its ongoing outreach to familiarize Kansans with the court, its work, and the overall role of the Kansas judiciary.
The public is also invited to attend.
The court will visit USD 326 and the Logan Intergenerational Family Education Center, also known as the LIFE Center, at 601 W. North Street, where it will hear oral arguments in one case.
Logan mayor and former clerk for Phillips County District Court, Debra Grammon will serve as honorary bailiff.
Before the oral argument, Chief Justice Marla Luckert will give a brief educational presentation on the Kansas court system.
The presentation is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. From 10 a.m. to about 10:45 a.m., the court will be in session to hear oral arguments in the State of Kansas v. Stanton S. Holt.
Doors will open at 8:15. Those who wish to watch the proceedings are encouraged to arrive by 8:45 to allow time for security and seating.
Attendees should not bring:
- Food or drink
- Large bags, large purses, backpacks, computer cases, or briefcases
- Knives, pepper spray, firearms, or weapons.
- Laptop computers, handheld games, personal digital assistants, or tablets. If you must carry a cellphone, it should be stored out of sight, preferably turned off, or the ringer must be silenced.
Following the oral argument, the justices will greet in-person attendees in an informal reception.
In 2011, the Supreme Court began conducting special sessions outside its Topeka courtroom. That year, it marked the state's 150th anniversary by convening in the historic Supreme Court courtroom in the Kansas Statehouse. The court returned to the Statehouse for another special session in January 2025.
Since 2011, the court has conducted special sessions in Colby, Concordia, Dodge City, El Dorado, Emporia, Garden City, Great Bend, Greensburg, Hays, Hiawatha, Hutchinson, Kansas City, Lawrence, Lansing, Louisburg, Manhattan, Overland Park, Parsons, Pittsburg, Salina, Topeka, Wichita, and Winfield.
Logan will be the 25th community the court will visit since it began the outreach program 14 years ago.
About the case:
Appeal No. 127,534: State of Kansas (appellee) v. Stanton S. Holt (appellant)
Geary County: (Criminal appeal) Holt is serving two consecutive life sentences plus 123 to 355 years in prison. A jury convicted Holt in 1994 in Geary County District Court of two counts of first-degree murder, as well as multiple counts of aggravated burglary and other charges related to a series of burglaries in 1993. In October 2020, Holt filed a motion for postconviction DNA testing of trial evidence. The district court initially ordered the evidence be sent to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation lab for testing. However, the district court later rescinded the testing order and denied Holt’s motion after hearing testimony from a KBI supervisor at an evidentiary hearing. The KBI supervisor testified that the evidence the lab received wasn’t appropriately preserved and lacked documentation. The district court concluded that because of how the evidence had been packaged and stored since the trial, DNA testing of the evidence would not produce results accurate to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty. Holt appeals, claiming the district court erred in denying his motion. Holt asserts Kansas law allows him to seek DNA testing and that whether the results of the testing would be accurate to a reasonable degree of scientific certainty is not a factor under the law. The State argues the district court correctly denied Holt's motion for postconviction DNA testing because the evidence had undergone DNA testing at the time of trial. It further argues that even if new DNA testing is done, the condition of the evidence would result in the DNA testing being meaningless or inconclusive.
The special session will also be livestreamed online at YouTube.com/KansasSupremeCourt.
To learn about the special session and the case to be heard, visit kscourts.gov/travel-docket.