By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT
Hays Post
After serving for more than a decade as a district court judge in the 23rd judicial district, Judge Glenn Braun’s time on the bench ended this week.
Braun was first appointed as a district judge in 2012 and then was re-elected in 2016 and 2020, serving as chief judge of the 23rd judicial district since 2016.
He chose not to seek re-election in 2024, and his last day was Monday, Jan. 13. Hays attorney Curtis Brown was elected in November to fill Braun’s seat on the bench.
Braun was born in Hays in 1956 and attended many schools throughout his youth before settling in for four years at Thomas More-Prep in Hays while his father worked as an attorney in Garden City.
Braun, whose family is from Victoria and Schoenchen, said he knew from a young age that he would follow in the footsteps of his father, a well-known trial attorney.
When Braun was in sixth grade, his father took him out of school to watch a murder trial. His father was the defense attorney in the trial.
“I watched the trial, from the jury selection all the way to verdict,” Braun said. “It took a week, and I was hooked. It was the best education I could get.”
After he got his driver’s permit, he served as his dad’s chauffeur when he was home in the summer.
“I went and watched a lot of court at different locations,” Braun said. “I watched him try a case in federal court. I watched him try divorce cases way up, east (and in) northeast Kansas. So, I was his chauffeur, and it was really, really educational.”
He also learned about the profession while playing golf in the summers with Judge Burt Vance in Garden City.
"He spoke to me a lot about being a lawyer because he kind of knew that's where I was going," Braun said.
Braun’s high school graduating class was the first to attend all four years at TMP, and he went on to graduate from Kansas State and Washburn School of Law in Topeka, his father’s alma mater.
While in his second year at law school, Braun took advantage of an opportunity to work in the Ellis County Attorney’s office for Bill Jeter, gaining valuable experience and contacts.
He graduated from law school in 1981, and two days after taking the bar exam, he was back in Hays working for Bob Glassman.
Braun served in private practice for more than three decades, from 1981 to 2012.
He was the Ellis County Attorney from 1989 to 1997. He also worked as a special DUI prosecutor and then Prosecutor for the City of Hays.
Braun said serving in those positions kept him and his staff busy and offered many opportunities.
“Before I went on the bench, I tried over 100 jury cases, not just DUIs, as county attorney,” Braun said. “I tried everything from rape, arson, aggravated robbery, you name it.”
Braun also served on the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission for seven years. He called those seven years some of the busiest of his life because the Kansas Legislature allowed the state to own and operate casinos.
“We were involved in the opening of the first three casinos. Dodge City was the first one. Then was Kansas City, Hollywood, and then down in Wichita, now actually Mulvane,” Braun said. “It was a fascinating experience.”
He also hired Hays attorney Tom Drees while serving as Ellis County Attorney. Drees served as assistant county attorney until becoming county attorney in 1997 when Braun was appointed to the district judge position.
Drees held that position until he was elected district judge in the 23rd judicial district in 2020. He was re-elected this fall.
Working as a judge in challenging times
Braun has worked in the legal system for four decades, only 12 of which were as a judge, but he said that time feels like the equivalent of 25 years.
He experienced three significant disruptions in court services in his decade on the bench, but they eventually worked out.
First was the Ellis County Courthouse remodel early in his time as judge.
"I came on board, and that was almost from day one with Judge (Edward) Bougher, we had to figure out, first packing up and leaving the courthouse and then moving back in,” Braun said. “We moved out in 2014, moved back into 2016, you know, that was a huge undertaking. All the planning that went in, plus you start to do the regular job.”
Not long after settling in, Judge Bougher was offered a senior judge position and retired. Braun then handled two dockets for several months in 2016 before Judge Blake Bittle was appointed.
Once again, things appeared to be back to normal, and in 2019, COVID struck a “nightmare” for Braun and the entire judicial system.
Braun said they were tasked with abiding by administrative rules and COVID restrictions while still doing their jobs, but they were able to gain some benefits from the pandemic changes.
"You know, there's an old saying, 'Never waste a good crisis,'" Braun said. "And a lot of good things came of it. We're doing a lot more remote hearings, which is a great cost savings for litigants and attorneys. All of that came into where it became more standard out of COVID."
Finally, in October 2023, a cyberattack on the Kansas Office of Judicial Administration network brought the courts' new online system to a standstill.
Braun said they had to completely reverse course, going from a paperless, electronic-centered way of doing things back to the old paper way.
“Fortunately, the county attorney's office during that cyberattack, had kept paper files,” Braun said. “We would get copies of pleadings just so we could get ready for a hearing,” Braun said.
"We would make do, and everybody cooperated to keep the administration of justice moving forward. Not violating any ethical rules," Braun said. "We are very careful on that, and we got through it until we're back up and running again."
He said he is extremely proud and impressed with how district court staff handled the situation.
“They have weathered everything with very few complaints,” Braun said. “I honestly can say I never heard any of them complain. They just buckled up, and they did it.”
Recovery Court
One of Braun’s most lasting legacies will be helping to launch the Ellis County Recovery Court.
Created in 2018 as Ellis County Drug Court, now called Recovery Court, it serves as an alternative to jail and aims to combat substance abuse addiction.
Braun, former County Attorney Chris Lyon, Recovery Court Coordinator Teresa Greenwood, former Director of Community Corrections John Trembley, and Hays attorney Curtis Brown were all major players in creating the Ellis County Recovery Court, the only court of its kind in western Kansas.
Braun said the judges he talked to told him that presiding over recovery court would be his favorite job, and they were right.
"Yes, I've had some heartache," Braun said. "We've had several of our graduates that have relapsed, but to see the success stories and to see them now, it's like, man, I was a small, tiny part of that. But at least I was a part of somebody breaking this cycle of addiction."
Braun kept a picture of every person who graduated from recovery court in a closet next to his office at the courthouse to celebrate and honor those individuals’ successes.
“Specialty courts, whether it's a drug recovery court or a behavioral health, or some people call it mental illness court, a Veterans Treatment Court, now they have family courts. These are a new, innovative way of trying to change the revolving door," Braun said.
"If everybody expects them to be perfect, that doesn't happen, but they make a difference, and I am so proud to have been involved with the recovery court team and with the participants that we put in there and to see their change in growth."
Braun said one misconception about recovery court is that it is easy or the court staff goes easy on participants.
“It's a lot harder to finish recovery court than it is doing straight probation,” Braun said. “You’ve got to go to AA/NA . You’ve got to go to a group session for drugs. You’ve got to do pro-social activities, all of these things.
"You don't have to do that on straight probation. So, it's a lot harder, and when ... if they can graduate, they've accomplished something," Braun said.
Braun said he had some great experiences during his more than 40 years in the legal profession.
"Whether it's Kansas BAR going to United States Supreme Court or sitting with the Kansas Supreme Court, or being president of the [Kansas Bar Association]," Braun said.
Braun said his father loved being a lawyer “probably more than me.” He said it allows you to learn a little bit about many topics.
"If you're in a civil case, you may learn about engineering or medicine," Braun said. "If you're in a criminal case, you may learn about forensics. When I tried the aggravated robbery case, we introduced hair analysis and shoe print analysis, which are stuff that I would have never been exposed to."
Retirement
Braun won’t be heading straight to retirement. He will be taking more time for himself and his family. He and his wife, Amy, have five children and one grandchild.
The day after his retirement from the 23rd Judicial District, Braun began serving in a senior judge position.
Braun will be assigned to special cases around the state in that part-time position. He also plans to do some mediation work.
Braun said he would pass on the same advice to the next person to follow in his footsteps that Judge Ed Bougher gave him when he first started.
“Always keep an open mind,” Braun said. “Never fall in that trap of thinking you got it figured out.
"When you've done so much legal work, you get a feeling, 'Oh, I got this. I know all of this. I've got this figured out. I had a case just like this years ago," Braun said. "But they're all unique and different."