The Kansas Rural Justice Initiative Committee is in Great Bend and held a public meet-in-greet Thursday evening at Dry Lake Brewing in advance of the committee’s business meeting Friday at the Holiday Inn Express, 3821 10th St.
At the community welcome, residents of Great Bend and surrounding area were invited to attend to meet committee members, learn about the committee’s work, and share their thoughts, said Lisa Taylor, public information director with the
Office of Judicial Administration.
“Rural justice. We can’t just sit in Topeka and talked about rural justice,” said Kansas Supreme Court Justice K.J. Wall who chairs the committee. He and committee members present Thursday night heard stories of counties with a dwindling number of lawyers and a growing need for legal services.
Even though Great Bend is a larger community by western Kansas standards, there is still a shortage of qualified attorneys to cover all the cases.
But, “I think we can make a difference,” he said. “I think we can find solutions.”
And, this is not just a problem that impacts the legal profession, but also the medical, engineering and other fields. The committee is looking at other occupations to get ideas.
Wall said the committee is visiting Great Bend on the invitation of Rep. Tory Blew (R-Great Bend). Blew also serves on the committee.
“We wanted to hear from those who best understand the issue – attorneys and community leaders living and working in rural Kansas,” Wall said. “Their knowledge and experience will help us identify meaningful initiatives to tackle the problem. We thank Rep. Blew and the Great Bend community for their hospitality.”
The committee meeting
The committee is meeting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at the Holiday Inn Express. A limited number of seats will be available for guests, Taylor said.
The committee’s agenda for the meeting includes a community roundtable discussion, during which legal professionals from the area will discuss how the attorney shortage has impacted their community.
Scheduled to participate in the discussion are 20th Judicial District Chief Judge Mike Keeley, retired, district Judge Carey Hipp, Blew, Rice County Attorney Remington Dalke, and local attorneys Mark Calcara, Taylor Calcara and Rob Bauer.
The meeting will also include reports from subcommittees tasked with information and data gathering, attorney recruitment and retention, and initiatives and solutions, whether implemented by the judicial branch, the Kansas Legislature or communities.
Background
Chief Justice Marla Luckert created the committee in December 2022 to examine unmet legal needs in rural Kansas related to a shrinking number of attorneys living and working in rural areas. The committee has 18 months from its inception at the end of 2022 to submit its initial recommendations to the Supreme Court.
Recommendations could include proposals to change laws, regulations or rules to make attorney services more available. They could also include best practices to make it easier to meet legal needs across Kansas, Wall said.
The 35-member committee includes representatives from all three branches of state government, the legal and business communities, law schools, and various nonprofit organizations.
