Kansans will vote next year on whether to elect Supreme Court justices or keep the current merit-based system. 

Kansas lawmakers narrowly passed a constitutional amendment that will be on the August 2026 ballot. The state has seven Supreme Court justices. If approved by voters, three judges would be elected in 2028. Two more would be elected in 2030 and the final two positions would be chosen in 2032. 

Each position would be up for election every six years or when there is a vacancy. The amendment doesn’t mention term limits for justices. 

The amendment comes as Republicans are frustrated with the state’s highest court, which has a comfortable liberal majority. 

“I would ask committee members and others to go out and read some of the justices’ opinions,” said Sen. Caryn Tyson, a Parker Republican, during a Senate committee meeting in February. 

“I have,” said Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican, “and there’s concern in there.”

Neither Tyson nor Thompson said what specifically they disagreed with in the meeting, but one notable ruling paved the way for abortion to be a protected right in the state. 

The state’s current nomination process is based on merit. Anyone can apply for a vacancy, and that application goes to a nine-member board. There are five lawyers — one serving as chair — and four citizens. The board does require equal representation for each congressional district. 

The board questions candidates in open forums and gives the governor three finalists. The governor then chooses the justice. This process has been around since the 1950s when then-Gov. Fred Hall stepped down from his office. His lieutenant governor was then promoted to governor and appointed Hall to the Kansas Supreme Court. 

The current system doesn’t allow everyday citizens to have a voice in who runs the courts, and that’s wrong, said Rep. Bob Lewis, a Garden City Republican. 

Lewis said he is able to vote for certain members of the Supreme Court nominating committee because he is an attorney. Everyone should have a say in the process, not just people with certain jobs. 

“I ran for office in large part because of my concern that we the people of Kansas have for the last 100 years seeded way too much power over our lives to unelected, unaccountable elite,” he said during the Wednesday House debate. 

The Senate passed the measure 27-13 and the House 84-40, the minimum number of votes needed in both chambers to pass. In all, eight Republicans voted against the amendment.

These resolutions don’t have to go to the governor to sign or veto. But they require a two-thirds majority to pass. 

Democrats and Republicans were at odds during the debate. 

Democrats said this injects politics into the court system, which is never a good idea. Republicans countered that the nine-member nominating board already has political biases. 

Republicans said the court makes major decisions without being accountable to voters. Democrats said there are already retention elections that let Kansans kick judges off the bench. 

Democrats said open elections lead to millions in campaign financing and political funds tainting the judicial system. Republicans said campaign contributions don’t always equate to victory. 

Dozens of other states have elected supreme court positions, and some races rack up tens of millions in campaign spending. 

Rep. Lindsay Vaughn, an Overland Park Democrat, doesn’t want to see that in Kansas. She’s worried about conflicts of interest, including cases where a judge is given money to win their seat then rules in a case that involves the donor. 

“The outcomes become increasingly predictable,” Vaughn said. “Justice should not be for sale in our state.” 

Voters may reject this constitutional amendment and keep the current system. Approving the amendment would allow lawmakers to establish a nominating system they desire. 

That could mean statewide elections for every justice. But Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican, said the legislator could draw Kansas Supreme Court justice districts and have only some part of the state vote on a statewide position.