Kansas Supreme Court

The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the U.S. state of Kansas. It is composed of seven justices and, besides serving as the state court of last resort in the appeals process, it supervises the legal profession and administers the judicial branch of the state. The justice with the longest continuous service is designated by the Kansas Constitution as chief justice, unless that justice declines or resigns the position, and the chief justice exercises the administrative authority of the court. The present court dates from January 1861, when Kansas was admitted as the 34th state, and it followed the supreme court of the Kansas Territory, whose first chief justice was Samuel Dexter Lecompte. A constitutional amendment of 1900 enlarged the court from three justices to seven, and by 1922 all seven were hearing and deciding cases. Since 1958 justices have been chosen under a merit selection arrangement known as the Missouri Plan.