This letter reflects my personal opinions as a lifelong resident of Ellis County and full-time attorney in Hays the past 35 years. Thank you for considering its publication.
The Aug. 4 primary gives Kansans the opportunity to vote on a proposed Constitutional amendment which, if passed, will eliminate the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission and current merit-based, nonpartisan process of selecting Justices for appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court.
This would allow voters to elect justices to the Kansas Supreme Court.
Although direct election might seem appealing at first glance, a closer look reveals an uglier truth.
Despite the considerable political noise surrounding the proposed Constitutional amendment, little attention is given to the fact that Kansas voters approved almost 70 years ago a Constitutional amendment establishing the Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission in response to the "Triple Play," an early 1957 political scheme where outgoing Governor Hall resigned, elevating Lieutenant Governor McCuish to Governor.
And the new Governor McCuish, in turn, promptly appointed Hall to a vacant Kansas Supreme Court seat.
A January 1957 edition of the Kansas City Times featured an appropriate headline: "A Brazen Raw Deal for Kansas Justice."
Eliminating the Kansas Supreme Comt Nominating Commission, and its rigorous nonpartisan, merit-based selection process by lawyers and non-lawyers, would reinject politics into our Kansas Supreme Court.
Justices would be subject to the stress of campaigning for reelection every six years, to attempted political influence from Democratic, Republican and other partisan interests and—perhaps most concerning—to relentless spending by businesses, institutions and wealthy individuals attempting to curry favor with justices.
Wisconsin voters already elect their justices to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. More than $140 million was spent on the 2025 Justice election in Wisconsin.
One must ask: Do we as Kansans wish to follow Wisconsin's lead by allowing outside interests the opportunity to buy justice?
If this proposed Constitutional amendment passes, untrackable "dark" money from outside, undisclosed interests will invade and impact the election of justices in Kansas.
Regardless of one's position on ANY issue before the Kansas Supreme Court, this is a serious concern that we, as Kansans, should not allow to become a reality.
The current system of nominating and appointing justices in Kansas will keep dark money and associated political pressure out of the process, while ensuring that justices will remain accountable to Kansans, because justices are already subject to a retention election vote every six years.
Kansans deserve and need justices who are not subject to political pressure when Constitutional and other rights are threatened or under attack.
Please join me in voting "NO" on the proposed Constitutional amendment.
— Mel Sauer Jr., attorney,
Hays