Gov. Laura Kelly selects Johnson County judge to fill vacancy on Kansas Supreme Court

TOPEKA — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly filled a vacancy Monday on the Kansas Supreme Court by selecting a Johnson County District Court judge who has focused on a civil case docket after a 20-year career in private practice.

The governor selected Chris Jayaram of Lenexa from among three finalists for the Supreme Court put forward by a nominating commission. Jayaram was placed on the district court bench in 2021 by Kelly.

“Kansans deserve justices who possess unquestioned integrity, deep legal knowledge, sound judgment and unwavering commitment to applying the law fairly and impartially,” Kelly said. “Kansans deserve justices who approach every case without fear or favor. Kansans deserve justices who follow the law — not politics, public opinion or personal preference.”

In 2025, Jayaram was a finalist for a Supreme Court opening that Kelly awarded to Leawood attorney Larkin Walsh. Jayaram earned his law degree in 1997 at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, and received an undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas.

Jayaram is the trial judge in a pending lawsuit brought by abortion providers who challenged state regulations imposed on clinics. That case has been viewed in the context of a state Supreme Court decision in 2019 that declared the Bill of Rights included provisions guaranteeing women in Kansas the fundamental right to end a pregnancy.

“I look forward to completing my work at the district court over the coming days and joining my new colleagues at the Supreme Court thereafter,” Jayaram said. “As I did at the district court, I pledge to serve all Kansans in this new role through the fair, just and impartial application of the law to cases that come before the Supreme Court.”

Brittany Jones, president of the “Christ-centered” lobbying organization Kansas Family Voice, said selection of Jayaram highlighted how the system of determining who served on the Supreme Court was flawed. She said in a statement Jayaram issued court rulings filtered through “political bias” and had taken judicial actions in conflict with “basic rules of civil procedure.”

The governor chose Jayaram from a list of finalists that included Johnson County District Judge Robert Wonnell of Olathe, who was a 2015 district court appointee of GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, and Douglas County District Judge Carl Folsom of Lawrence. Kelly appointed Folsom to the district court in Lawrence. Previously, the governor nominated Folsom twice for the Kansas Court of Appeals, but he was blocked by the Kansas Senate.

The vacancy to be filled by Jayaram on the Supreme Court occurred through the retirement of Chief Justice Marla Luckert, who served on the seven-justice high court for 23 years. Kelly and Jayaram both lauded Luckert’s legal career.

“There are big shoes to fill, following the retirement of Chief Justice Luckert, and I will strive to live up to the legacy she leaves behind,” Jayaram said.

It would be Kelly’s last such appointment to the Supreme Court before Kansas voters decide in the Aug. 4 primary whether to approve a Republican-backed amendment to the Kansas Constitution mandating Supreme Court justices be chosen through direct election rather than a merit-based process. Conservative members of the Legislature have sought passage of the constitutional amendment in anticipation the Supreme Court could move to oppose abortion rights and reconsider public funding of education.

Elizabeth Patton, a representative in Kansas of Americans for Prosperity, which has invested in a campaign for passage of the amendment, said she wasn’t surprised the commission nominated and Kelly chose “another leftist judge” to the high court. She said selection of Jayaram ought to be the “final nail in the coffin of this corrupt and undemocratic process.”

The appointment was Kelly’s fifth to the Supreme Court since she was sworn into office as governor in 2019. Last year, Kelly appointed Walsh to replace Justice Evelyn Wilson. Wilson joined the Supreme Court in 2020, but retired due to health issues. Kelly also appointed Justices Melissa Standridge and K.J. Wall in 2020. That led to the retirement of Luckert, also because of health considerations.

Kelly said the merit-selection process relied on by the nominating commission for appointments to the Supreme Court produced highly qualified options. The commission has responsibility for interviewing applicants for vacancies on the Supreme Court. Those interviews must be done in public and voting by commissioners must be done in open session.

The commission is an independent entity that has drawn its authority from the state Constitution. The nine-member commission has four nonlawyers chosen by the governor. Four attorneys on the commission are elected by members of the Kansas Bar Association to represent each congressional district. A fifth attorney is picked to be commission chairperson.

“I don’t think these ought to be political positions and I was not about to start using political considerations,” Kelly said during a news conference at the Capitol. “The selection process has resulted in Kansas having an extremely responsible, fair, impartial court that does serve the best interests of Kansans.”

Under current standards, members of the Supreme Court stand for a statewide retention vote in the general election following their initial appointment. If retained by voters at that time, each justice would go through the retention process every six years for as long as they serve on the bench.