Friday, May. 09, 2008

Pool of 10th District judge candidates narrowed to three

The list of candidates to replace Judge Janice Russell in the 10th Judicial District was trimmed from 11 to three Thursday.

David Wesley Hauber, Robert J. Bjerg and Judge James Phelan were chosen by the selection committee, which put each candidate through 30-minute interviews.

Hauber, of Shawnee, is a partner in the firm of Baty, Holm and Numrich, P.C. in Kansas City, Mo. A former newspaper editor, Hauber said he became interested in the law system while working as a reporter in Topeka.

“It was something that interested me, and I wanted to figure out how it worked,” Hauber said. “Now that I know how it works, I feel like I can represent it well and do good by the system.”

This was Hauber’s first time to apply to be a judge in Johnson County.

Bjerg is from Lake Quivera and operates a private practice in Leawood. He made the final three during each of the previous two openings and said he was happy to be considered once again.

“It’s been an aspiration of mine for a long time,” Bjerg said. “There’s not a defining moment where you say, ‘This is what I want to do’, but it’s something I’ve considered for a long time.”

Currently a magistrate judge in the 10th Judicial District, James Phelan lives in Overland Park. He made the final three the last time a position opened in the system and said the opportunity to meet the governor at that time helped make the process less stressful this time. He said the selection process was necessary and beneficial to the county.

“I think it’s a worthwhile thing,” Phelan said. “It’s important to have the best judges possible in Johnson County. It reflects well on the community.”

Johnson County uses a process known as the “merit system,” meaning that judges are chosen through a strict process that includes full background checks and inquiries into the candidates’ qualifications and trial histories. Thursday was the second leg of the three-step process.

Next, Hauber, Bjerg and and Phelan will be sent to Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who will choose Russell’s successor. Sebelius will have 30 days to make an appointment.

The committee was made up of seven attorneys elected by the 3,500 Kansas licensed attorneys in Johnson County and seven non-lawyers appointed by the Johnson County Commission. Each candidate had a pair of “liaisons” — representatives of the commission who were responsible for conducting the background checks and calling references. In many cases, the liaisons and candidates never had met before Thursday’s face-to-face interview.

Candidates were asked a range of questions regarding their temperaments, strengths, weaknesses and ethical dilemmas they had faced.

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