People gathered in Courtroom A in the Barton County Courthouse on Thursday to meet two special guests as they made a stop in Great Bend on their way to a Bar Association Conference in western Kansas.
Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton Nuss and Justice Marla Luckert stopped by to answer questions and show their appreciation for the staff at the courthouse.
“We wanted to make a stop here in Great Bend to say thank you for all the hard work and dedication the staff of the court house has done over the years,” Nuss said. “It is a pleasure to be back in Barton County where my father was born.”
Both judges plan these stops as they make their way to the conference just to meet people and let them know they are doing what they can to make sure the justice system is fair and strive to make it better.
“This meeting is very important to the people of Barton County,” said 20th Judicial District Chief Judge Mike Keeley of Great Bend. “It puts a face to the names and it lets the public know they are people just like us and they are working hard for the people of Kansas and we really appreciate them for coming out and visiting with us.”
The judges visited for about an hour before they made their way to Larned and then a stop in Dodge City before they reach their conference were they will meet attorneys from all over western Kansas.
The justices
Nuss is a fourth-generation Kansan. After graduating from Salina High School, he attended the University of Kansas on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship.
He graduated in Jan. 1975 with a bachelor of arts in English and history and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. He then served as a combat engineering officer with the Fleet Marine Force Pacific. After his discharge in 1979, he entered law school at the University of Kansas and graduated in May 1982.
Nuss was appointed to the Supreme Court by Governor Bill Graves in Aug. 2002, becoming the first court member in more than 20 years to move directly from the practice of law to the bench. He became chief justice in Aug. 2010.
Luckert was born July 20, 1955, in Goodland. She received a bachelor of arts in history in May 1977 and her juris doctorate in 1980 from Washburn University of Topeka. While in law school, she served as technical editor of the Washburn Law Journal and received the faculty and alumni awards for best student note.
She was appointed by the Kansas Supreme Court to the Kansas Judicial Council where she served as chair of the Criminal Law Advisory Committee. In 2000 she became chief judge of the Third Judicial District. Governor Bill Graves appointed her to the Kansas Supreme Court effective Jan. 13, 2003.
