Miller, Etzel, Marek nominated to Second District judgeship

Jackson County Attorney Shawna R. Miller, Onaga-based attorney Christopher T. Etzel and Wabaunsee County Attorney Nor­bert C. Marek Jr. were selected Thursday by the Kansas Second Judicial District Nominating Commission as the three finalists for the Second Dis­trict Judge position previously held by the late Micheal Ireland.

The selection came following a series of interviews with seven Second District attorneys held that morning at the Jackson County Courthouse, followed by a 30-minute executive session in which the nominating commission narrowed the seven down to three candidates for the position.

Holton attorney J. Richard Lake, who acted as secretary for the nomi­nating commission, said the com­mission's recommendations of Miller, Etzel and Marek will be forwarded to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. The governor now has 60 days to appoint a judge to take over for Ireland, whose death on Aug. 29 created the bench vacancy.

Others seeking nomination in­cluded Jackson County Counselor Alexandria S. Morrissey of Holton, Zachary A. King of Hoyt, Thomas Britt Nichols of Wamego and Vivien J. Olsen of St. Marys. Three other previously-announced candi­dates not living in the Second Dis­trict, which includes Jackson, Jef­ferson, Pottawatomie and Wabaun­see counties, were not included in Thursday’s interviews.

Miller, who has served as Jackson County Attorney since 2006 — at which time she was serving as assistant county attorney under Ireland and was appointed to fill Ireland’s attorney position when he was appointed judge — and has been elected to the position twice (2008 and 2012), has a private law practice in Holton. She also serves as municipal court judge for the cities of Hoyt and Mayetta.

Etzel, who lives in western Jackson County, has a private practice in Onaga, where he serves as city attorney and city prosecutor.

Marek, a resident of Westmoreland in Pottawatomie County, serves as Wabaunsee County Attorney. He is also the city attorney for Riley, McFarland, St. George, Maple Hill, Randolph, Leonardville, Wheaton, Goff, Havensville and Paxico, it was reported.

Of the three selected for recom­mendation to the governor, only Miller and Etzel have current Jack­son County addresses — which is required of a successful candidate prior to being sworn in as a Second District judge here — while Marek said he would move to Jackson County if appointed to the judge’s position. Of the others, King and Morrissey were current Jackson County residents.

All seven candidates were in­vited by the commission to present opening statements about them­selves and why they thought they would be the best candidate for the judgeship, then were asked individual questions by members of the com­mission. The most common ques­tions concerned their strongest in­dividual strengths, how they would handle “volatile” domestic cases involving children and how they would dispose of their existing caseloads.

The first of those three questions, posed by commissioner David Al­len of Circleville, drew varying re­sponses from the candidates. The answers ranged from Olsen’s “ability to hear and listen to all sides” to Morrissey’s desire to make sure that all parties to litiga­tion have “an honest-to-God fair share” to King’s “experience in the area of real life,” including his time as a defendant in some court cases.

Miller told the commission that even though she has a fair amount of experience in civil and domestic law, “my first love is criminal law,” adding that she can get “a pretty good grasp on a situation” in a courtroom setting, as her seven years as Jackson County Attorney attest.

“I’d like to think I inherited my grandfather’s common sense,” Miller said. “He was quite the ne­gotiator.”

For Etzel, his strongest points were “probably my dependability, my temperament and my overall work ethic,” he said. The latter of these, he noted, stems from a need to be prepared for whatever comes his way in court.

“I will not be out-prepared when I go into that courtroom,” Etzel said. “In every case, the litigants want to know that the judge is paying attention.”

Marek said his greatest strength was his “background in terms of variety of cases,” having worked as a prosecutor and as a defender, as well as authoring or co-authoring a number of published opinions in the Kansas Supreme Court and the state’s Court of Appeals. That, he said, has given him “a very well-rounded, practical legal education.”

Concerning the question of “volatile” domestic cases in which estranged or divorced parents are unable to restrain their emotions, posed by commissioner Norma Dunnaway of Perry, candidates fa­vored mediation between parents to try to keep the peace between the parents inside and outside of court, and appointing a guardian ad litem in cases where that is not possible.

“I know how quickly a domestic case can turn into something more volatile,” said Miller, who noted that “almost all” domestic cases that involve children have the po­tential to become unstable and have a negative effect upon the children.

Some of the attorneys were questioned on how many cases they would need to recuse themselves from if they are appointed judge, and those who were asked said they would have no problem handling the matter. As Wabaunsee County Attorney, Marek said he would only have to recuse on some of the cases he currently oversees there.

Etzel said the only cases he would have to recuse himself from judging would be “the ones I’m current on.” He added that even though he has “a lot of repeat cus­tomers” as a defense attorney, it should not cause a conflict of inter­est in the long run.

Miller said she would have to recuse on several of her cases “at first.” But having worked with Ire­land on his transition from Jackson County Attorney to district court judge in 2006, she noted it was likely that any potential conflicts of interest that may pop up in transition will likely “peter out” if she is appointed judge, as they did when Ireland was appointed judge.

The main exception in the inter­view process was Nichols, who spoke anecdotally for 20 minutes on previous experiences to show the benefits of having “wisdom and experience to define what the right thing is… and the courage and for­titude to do it.” The nominating commission did not ask him any questions after his speech.

The other three attorneys who had been named as candidates but did not participate in Thursday’s interviews were Randy Barker and Lee Davidson, both of Topeka, and Chris Clements of Andover.

In addition to Lake, Allen and Dunnaway, other members of the nominating commission included Edward W. Pugh and John D. Watt, both of Wamego; Charles W. Waugh, Eskridge; D. Max Fuller, Maple Hill; and Corwin K. Sea­mans, Manhat­tan. Kansas Supreme Court Justice Marla Luckert, de­partmental justice responsible for the Second Judicial District, served as the commission’s non-voting chairperson.