Kansas Court Reform Headed To Courts

The Kansas effort to decentralize court budgets has brought a lawsuit. Gov. Sam Brownback signed the new law last year despite strong opposition led by state Chief Justice Lawton Nuss. The new systemshifted control of district courts’ budgets from the Kansas Supreme Court to each district court’s chief judge. The state-vs.-local court funding argument is common across the nation.

The Wichita Eagles explains that “…Proponents said district court judges were better suited to make budgetary decisions for their courts, while critics said the bill weakened the state’s unified court system. The Supreme Court retained its power to set the funding amount for each district court. The lawsuit argues that the legislature violated separation of powers  guaranteed in the state constitution.

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