This year 6 Supreme Court Justices and 7 Court of Appeals Judges are up for retention in Kansas. They must stand for retention after their first year. After that, each of the seven Supreme Court judges stands for retention every six years and every 4 years for Appellate Justices.

The ballot states the name, where they are from and if they should be retained in office.

As we have seen with the recent decisions by the US Supreme Court, the election process and balance of power in the courts can make a large and direct impact on the citizenry.

Short of looking up each judge’s decisions on individual cases, you can do your research in a few different ways. Many say the best way is to ask someone you trust who is in the know. Perhaps an attorney friend or someone who works in the system, who knows and can give anecdotal evidence on which way a judge leans. If you don’t know someone like that then there are other ways to find which way a particular judge slants politically. There are several websites that rate every candidate up for election or retention in the entire country. Just be aware who is sponsoring the website and factor that into your evaluation.

So do your homework, then you won’t be surprised when you open the ballot in this election because you took a minute to do your part and be informed.