Sedgwick County voters may be overwhelmed by the number of district court judges lining their ballot this November — 11. That’s in addition to the appellate and Supreme Court judges listed.
And unlike politicians, there isn’t always a wealth of information about district court judges available. District courts, also known as trial courts, are some of the lowest-level courts. Judges in these courts oversee everything from criminal cases to divorce proceedings to evictions.
“It's difficult for any voter to have an informed opinion about a county trial court judge that hears dozens, if not hundreds of cases a year,” said Neil Allen, associate professor of political science at Wichita State University.
But that doesn’t mean these judges aren’t important. During the Summer of Mercy anti-abortion protests in 1991, hundreds of people were arrested, Allen said. A district court judge had to rule on whether they would go to jail for violating trespassing rules and other interactions with law enforcement.
“So you can have a situation where a very important public policy is in effect running through trial courts,” Allen said.
KMUW reviewed the district court judge election process and gathered information on the 11 district court judges up for election in Sedgwick County. Here is information about appellate and Supreme Court judges up for retention in Kansas.
The election process for district court judges
About half of the court districts in Kansas elect their judges via a partisan ballot, including Sedgwick County.
This year, all 11 district court judges on the ballot are Republicans and are running unopposed.
District court judges have to run for reelection every four years. This year, eight judges are running for reelection. Three — Shawn Elliott, Francessca Montes-Williams and Jesse Burris — are new to the role.
Burris is running for the role of district magistrate judge, which is new to Sedgwick County. The goal of the magistrate judge is to handle lower-level needs of the court, like preliminary hearings, in order to decrease the court backlog resulting from the pandemic.
Because all 11 judges are running unopposed, there is less campaign material from the judges.
“In a normal contested election, whether it's primary or general, judges are allowed to have campaign materials that are similar to other candidates, where they can talk about their professional experience,” said Aaron Breitenbach, president of the Wichita Bar Association. “When they're uncontested, it is more difficult to get that information.”
Allen suggested finding information about judges by researching local media to see whether they’ve been involved in any high-profile cases. The public can also sit in during court to observe how the judge runs the legal proceedings.
Existing information on judges up for election
KMUW compiled existing information about the judges running for district court this year. All 11 have been endorsed by Kansans for Life. Many of the judges were also evaluated by the Wichita Bar Association in 2018. Those evaluations can be found in the The Wichita Eagle.
Robb Rumsey: Judge, 18th District, Division 4
- Rumsey has served as a district court judge since 2007. He has ruled on several high-profile cases, including a 2015 murder case in which Rumsey allowed a 17-year-old to be tried as an adult. Another was a 2014 child custody case, in which Rumsey decided not to grant custody to a toddler’s great-grandmother.
Seth Rundle: Judge, 18th District, Division 5
- Rundle has served as a district judge since 2015. He has judged multiple murder trials, including ordering a life sentence earlier this year to a man who killed the owner of a Mexican restaurant in Wichita.
Rodger Woods: Judge, 18th District, Division 7
- Woods has served as a district judge since 2018. Woods has overseen cases ranging from animal cruelty to murder.
Richard “Rick” Macias: Judge, 18th District, Division 7
- Macias has served as a district judge since 2017, when he was appointed by then-Governor Sam Brownback. Here is a 2018 survey by the Wichita Bar Association that evaluates Macias’ judgeship.
David Kaufman: Judge, 18th District, Division 15
- Kaufman has served as a district judge since 2002. In the past 20 years, he has overseen murder cases, sexual assault cases and other sex crimes. In 2022, Kaufman judged many high-profile cases, including sentencing a man who shot an AutoZone worker to 22 years in prison.
Linda Kirby: Judge, 18th District, Division 17
- Kirby has served as a district judge since 2019. Here is a 2018 survey by the Wichita Bar Association, in which lawyers evaluate Kirby.
Faith Maughan: Judge, 18th District, Division 18
- Maughan has served as a district judge since 2013, when she was appointed by then-Governor Sam Brownback. Maughan has judged murder cases and burglaries. In the past year, Maughan agreed that the state should compensate a man who was wrongfully convicted with $50,000, which was opposed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Michael Hoelscher: Judge, 18th District, Division 19
- Hoelscher has served as a district judge since 2015. Here is a 2018 survey by the Wichita Bar Association, in which lawyers evaluate Hoelscher.
Shawn Elliott: Judge, 18th District, Division 29
- Elliott currently works as a criminal defense attorneyin Wichita. He ran for district court judge in 2016 but lost in the primary. Here is a 2016 survey by the Wichita Bar Association, in which lawyers evaluate Elliott.
Francessca Montes-Williams: Judge, 18th District, Division 30
- Montes-Williams worked as an attorney with the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s office between 2013 and 2019.
Jesse Burris: District Magistrate Judge, District 18, Position 1
- Burris is currently a representative in the Kansas House, a role in which he has served since 2017. He entered office opposing tax increases, abortion and same-sex marriage while supporting school choice and gun rights, according to The Wichita Eagle.
