All Kansas voters will weigh in during the Nov. 3 election on whether to retain judges on the state supreme and appellate courts.
In recent years, state supreme courts have been key to advancing or suspending the Trump administration’s agenda. The state supreme court often has the final say on things like state laws, abortion access, and redistricting — although, in Missouri that was escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court three times.
To find out which judges are on your ballot, go to the Kansas Secretary of State website or your local election board’s website
Click on a link below to see more details on the judges that are up for retention, and more details about the process.
- How judge selections work in Kansas
- What happens if a judge is not retained?
- What to know about the 2026 retention elections
- Kansas Supreme Court
- Kansas Court of Appeals
How judge selections work in Kansas
The judge role in Kansas does not have a party affiliation. Rather, they are selected in a merit-based system.
Kansas Supreme Court judges are recommended by a nominating committee — made up of five lawyers and four non-lawyers. Three finalists are presented to the partisan governor, who appoints one person to the bench.
After their appointment, justices go up for a retention vote in the first general election following their appointment. If they pass, they’ll face a retention vote every six years after that.
The Kansas Court of Appeals judges can be selected by the governor from any licensed attorney in the state between the ages of 30 and 70. However, the nominee needs to be confirmed by the Kansas Senate, too. Appeals court judges stand for retention after their first year in office, then every four years after.
In August, Kansas voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have abandoned the state’s merit-based judicial appointments in favor of a direct system of electing judges.
The proposal was pushed by key state Republicans, partially in response to the Kansas Supreme Court consistently upholding abortion rights. Opponents said electing supreme court justices would increase partisanship on the court, and was a thinly-veiled way for Republicans to overturn abortion access.
What happens if a judge is not retained?
Kansas statute reads that if voters decide against retaining a judge, the position is vacant once the judge’s current term expires. For all the judges up for a vote this election, that’s January 2027.
That means the next governor — either Republican Ty Masterson or Democrat Cindy Holscher — would appoint their successor.
Kansans have never booted a state supreme or appellate court justice out of their seat on a retention vote — despite former Gov. Sam Brownback’s efforts in 2014 and 2016 targeting justices that he perceived to be too liberal.
What to know about the 2026 judge retention elections
This election, both of the Kansas Supreme Court justices up for retention were appointed by a Democrat, as were all but one of the appellate court judges.
While some GOP groups are lobbying for a few judges — specifically Supreme Court justices Eric Rosen and Larkin Walsh — to not be retained, there isn’t much of a concerted opposition effort this election season.
Some district court and magistrate judges are also up for retention, but those decisions will be left to the Kansans they preside over. The Johnson County Bar Association compiled evaluations for district judges up for retention — you can see a guide to some judges on the Johnson County Post.
Wyandotte County judges are chosen in partisan elections.
There are 31 judicial districts in Kansas, and you can see exactly who will be on your ballot through VoterView on the secretary of state’s website. Most cases never move past the district court.
Here’s a look at who will be on the statewide ballots in November, including what attorneys who’ve directly interacted with the justices said in surveys from the Kansas Bar Association.
Kansas Supreme Court
Eric S. Rosen
Who appointed him? Former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, in 2005.
What do attorneys think? 88% of attorneys surveyed told the Kansas Bar Association they’d recommend Rosen’s retention, and gave his overall performance a B+.
What else? He’s the court’s chief justice as of January. The position doesn’t give him more power but it does give him more administrative duties.
Former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback led a campaign to boot Rosen from his seat. He wanted to replace Democratic-appointed judges with conservative-appointed ones.
Kansans kept Rosen and the other targeted judge. Rosen was retained by about five percentage points that year. In his next election, he was retained by a 40 percentage point margin.
Rosen was a school social worker before going to law school. In the KBA’s detailed measure of performance, he ranked highest on his ability to treat parties equally regardless of race, sex or economic status.
He’s the first Jewish person appointed to a district court in Kansas and the first Jewish person on the state’s supreme court.
Larkin E. Walsh
Who appointed her? Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, in 2025.
What do attorneys think? 91% recommended her retention, and gave her overall performance a B+.
What else? She was appointed by Kelly in the midst of Republicans’ push to have supreme court justices elected, not appointed. Americans for Prosperity, a conservative, Koch family-funded political action committee called her “yet another liberal progressive” appointed by Kelly.
One of her more high-profile cases was Kelly v. Kobach, in which Kelly sued Attorney General Kris Kobach to reinforce her belief that governors have authority to help decide what lawsuits elected officials attach themselves to. Kobach regularly joins other Republican attorneys general on major lawsuits.
The court narrowly dismissed Kelly’s petition, and Walsh wrote a concurring opinion joining the only Republican-appointed judge.
Kansas Court of Appeals
Lesley Ann Isherwood
Who appointed her? Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, in 2021.
What do attorneys think? 75% recommend retention, and her overall performance got a C.
What else? Attorneys’ primary issue with Isherwood is her delay in delivering opinions, per the KBA’s detailed measure of performance.
Isherwood was a prosecutor for Sedgwick County and argued 400 appeals between the state’s supreme and appellate courts.
Amy Fellows Cline
Who appointed her? Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, in 2020.
What do attorneys think? 83% recommend retention, and her overall performance gets a B.
What else? She worked at a full-service law firm before joining the court of appeals.
She told the University of Kansas Law Magazine that she strives to write her opinions in plain language so that they’re understandable to all people, not just attorneys and judges.
Kim R. Schroeder
Who appointed him? Former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, in 2013.
What do attorneys think? 89% recommend retention, and his overall performance gets a B+.
What else? Schroder worked as a district court judge before his appointment to the appellate court. He’s the only judge up for retention appointed by a Republican.
Lori Ann Bolton Fleming
Who appointed her? Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, in 2025.
What do attorneys think of her? 91% recommend her retention, and her overall performance gets an A.
What else? She was the chief judge for the 11th Judicial District in southeast Kansas before advancing to the appellate court. She was appointed to the 11th district by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
She’s the first appellate court judge to represent the 11th district since 1978. She’s focused on fulfilling legal needs in less populated parts of the state.
Jacy Hurst
Who appointed her? Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, in 2021.
What do attorneys think? 78% recommend her retention, and she got an overall performance grade of C.
What else? Like for Isherwood, the surveyed attorneys’ primary issue is unnecessary delays when issuing opinions.
She’s the first woman of color on the court of appeals.
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