Op Ed by TJ Rose Kansas Senator, District 35 | July 15, 2026

The Kansas Supreme Court is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court more than any other state.  Embarrassingly, seven of the last eight Kansas cases have been reversed, including some with harsh rebukes.  The reason for this unacceptable record is the broken Kansas model of selecting new justices.  The current flawed system lacks democracy, accountability and transparency.  We the people have an opportunity to restore our voice in the Kansas Supreme Court by voting YES on the Right to Vote Amendment on August 4th.  

Kansas is literally the only state in our great country in which the people have no say in who serves on the Supreme Court, either directly or through your representatives in the Legislature.  Currently, a nominating commission consisting of five lawyers and four non-lawyers recommends three candidates to the governor who then appoints one to the Supreme Court.  In other words, lawyers are choosing lawyers who will decide future cases in the highest court in the state.  The Right to Vote Amendment would amend the Kansas Constitution to abolish the current method of appointing justices to the Kansas Supreme Court and replace it with direct election of justices. 

To demonstrate the lack of transparency in the current model, you probably didn’t know (and this is understandable) a new justice is currently being selected.  One of the three options the governor has to choose from is a judge who recently blocked legislation protecting children from transgender surgeries by claiming the new law is unconstitutional.  Under the current system, if this judge is appointed to the Supreme Court, he will be a justice for the rest of his life because retention elections have never succeeded in removing a justice from office, not once.

The Right to Vote Amendment is a return to democracy in which the will of the people determines who will govern and exercise authority over them.  Did you know Kansas elected justices for our first one hundred years?  In 1958 the process changed amidst a knee-jerk reaction to a vacancy appointment disagreement.  Twenty-two other states, including red, blue and purple states, elect their Supreme Court justices.  None of these states seek to adopt the Kansas model.  Kansans already elect district court judges in fifty-five counties.  Kansans are also capable of electing Supreme Court justices, which would create a transparent and accountable process.

Kansas Supreme Court justices serve as the gatekeepers of our constitutional rights, but what happens when these gatekeepers have their own political agenda unbeknownst to the people?  Kansas currently has no gatekeeper for the gatekeepers.  The Right to Vote amendment would affirm our commitment to self-government and reestablish the people as the ultimate gatekeepers. 

The Supreme Court’s decisions set binding legal precedent that lower courts must follow, but under the current model does the Kansas Supreme Court have the consent of the governed to exercise this authority?  The Supreme Court should provide important checks and balances on both the legislature and the governor, but a majority of current justices prioritize their own agenda with no accountability to the people. The justices who interpret and apply the law should be vetted by the voters, and held accountable to the people just as the legislators who make the laws are accountable to you. 

At present, your constitutional rights are not being protected nor is your safety.  In the overturned cases, the Kansas Supreme Court sided with brutal murderers instead of their victims, illegal aliens who stole the identity of Kansans, and against law enforcement.  Your opportunity for accountability of Supreme Court justices is voting YES on August 4th.  

You have a chance to be given a voice regarding how your Kansas Supreme Court is selected.  A supermajority of your representatives in the Kansas legislature considered these concerns worthy of a vote of the people.  What is your verdict?  Please vote YES for your right to select Supreme Court justices on August 4th.