Nine nominees advance for Douglas County judge vacancy

Douglas County is about to replace a judge whose courtroom handled some of the county’s most serious criminal cases, and nine applicants are now in the running for the seat.

The 7th Judicial District Nominating Commission was set to meet at 2 p.m. Monday, June 1, at Stevens & Brand LLP in the U.S. Bank Tower, 900 Massachusetts Street, Suite 500, in Lawrence. The meeting was open to the public. The Kansas Judicial Branch later said the commission would convene June 22 and 23 to interview candidates and select three to five nominees for Gov. Laura Kelly, who then has 60 days to make the appointment.

The nine nominees are Meryl Carver-Allmond, Blake Glover, Tonda Hill, Paul Klepper, Brandelyn Nichols, Jonathon Noble, Shon Qualseth, Bethany Roberts and Krystal Vokins. Their names signal how much of the county’s legal community is tied to this decision: the pool reaches into defense work, prosecution, judicial administration and state-agency practice, all for a seat in the only county in the 7th Judicial District.

That seat became open when Judge Sally Pokorny retired effective April 10, after 17 years on the bench and nearly five decades in the legal profession. Douglas County said Pokorny, appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in 2009, was the first judge in Kansas to help establish a Behavioral Health Court, working with Charles Branson, Mark Simpson, Sharon Zehr, Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and DCCCA. Her replacement will inherit a court role that has shaped how Douglas County handles felony criminal cases, along with the pressure that comes with deciding matters affecting defendants, victims and families.

Kansas uses a merit-selection system in this district, so the choice will not turn on a campaign. The nominating commission, made up of lawyers and nonlawyers who live in the district, interviews applicants and narrows the field for the governor. Chief Justice Eric S. Rosen serves as the nonvoting chair. Douglas County’s public roster lists the nonlawyer members as Stephanie Davis, Grace MacMillan, Elina Alterman, Katy Fitzgerald and Patricia Kuester.

Applicants had to be admitted to practice law in Kansas, live in the district when sworn in and while serving, and have at least five years of active legal practice, judicial service or full-time law teaching. The application deadline was noon Friday, May 29. If there are not at least three qualified district residents willing to serve, the commission may consider nonresidents.

The next judge will step into a courthouse that has already gone digital, with the 7th Judicial District operating on the Kansas eCourt case management system since April 3, 2023. For Douglas County, the appointment will determine who helps steer some of the county’s most consequential criminal proceedings for years to come.