With the decision of the Legislature, the process of choosing chief district judges in the state have been changed. The Kansas Supreme Court have been stripped the control over it and giving it to the district judges.
However, it seems like Kansas Supreme Court is not pleased with the turn out of the events. According to Washington Times, Kansas Supreme Court has put down the law passed by the Legislature. They see that if this 2014 law is enacted, the administrative influence of the Supreme Court will be lessened which can affect the system. Furthermore, the high court stated that changing how the chief district justices are chosen is unconstitutional. This action gives an impression that the Legislature is trying assert control over the Supreme Court.
However, the Legislature made sure that the Kansas Supreme Court will face a consequence if they try to go against the 2014 law. The Hays Daily News have reported that the court funding is threatened if the high court would struck down law. This is reinforced by the House Bill 2005 that the Legislature have passed early this year. As said previously, the bill is aiming on the court funding.
But, as it appears, according to Kansas, the Supreme Court's decision is not affected by the House Bill 2005. They argue that what they have decided remains "on the constitutional principle of separation of powers between branches of government". However, the high court notes that their action have a grave consequence on court funding and they are calling on the Legislature to take action of this.
As reported also by The Hays Daily News, Irigonegaray stated that that the only way to sever the court from defunding is for the legislative branch of the government to act upon it once they come back in office and support the court funding.
As of now, there is no assurance if the court funding will be affected by the decision of the Kansas Supreme Court. But the high court is definitive on their decision to strike down the 2014 law which states that the process of choosing chief district judges depends on the decision of district judges.
