Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has appointed Rachel Pickering to serve on the Kansas Court of Appeals.
By choosing Pickering, Kelly has appointed the first Hispanic Kansan to the appellate court. Pickering lives in Topeka and serves as a judge in the Third District, or Shawnee County. Her prior experience includes time as an appellate defender, public defender, assistant district attorney and assistant solicitor general.
The Kansas Senate now has to confirm Pickering.
The choice of Pickering as the next Court of Appeals judge means Kristen Wheeler, an Emporia native and the daughter of retiring Lyon County judge Merlin Wheeler, will have to try again for a judge-level position. Wheeler was one of three finalists for the position, which opens up with the retirement of Anthony Powell. This was Wheeler’s third time as an applicant for a Court of Appeals position. She was also a finalist for a Kansas Supreme Court in 2020.
