Emporia native Kristen Wheeler is pleasantly surprised she’s one of three finalists for the Kansas Supreme Court.
Wheeler says it’s humbling to be in the company of the other two finalists, 12th Judicial District Judge Kim Cudney and Kansas Court of Appeals Judge Melissa Taylor Standridge.
Wheeler graduated from Emporia High in 1999 and then graduated from the University of Kansas before obtaining her law degree from Washburn School of Law in 2006. She served in private practice with Robinson Law Firm and also Morris, Laing, Evans, Brock and Kennedy. In 2018, she left private practice to be the law clerk for US District Judge Thomas Marten.
Wheeler also says the guidance and counsel from her dad, Lyon County Administrative Judge Merlin Wheeler, has been invaluable throughout her career and now as she gets ready for interviews next month.
Wheeler says her judicial philosophy would be to judge each individual case on its merits and rely on her wide-ranging case experience and her recent clerking position to reach the proper verdict.
Candidates for the Supreme Court need to be at least 30 years old and a lawyer in Kansas for at least 10 years. The Supreme Court Nominating Commission forwards names of potential candidates based on reviews of their experience, educational background, ethics, temperament, community service, impartiality and respect of colleagues.
