Kansas Supreme Court
Seal of the Kansas Supreme Court
Jurisdiction	United States
Location	Topeka, Kansas
Composition method	Missouri plan with retention elections
Authorized by	Kansas Constitution
Judge term length	6 years
Number of positions	7
Website	Official site
Chief Justice
Currently	Lawton Nuss
Since	January 12, 2009
Jurist term ends	January 2013

The Kansas Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. Composed of seven justices, led by Chief Justice Lawton Nuss, the court supervises the legal profession, administers the judicial branch, and serves as the state court of last resort in the appeals process.^[1]

Functions[link]

Judicial[link]

The Kansas Supreme Court's most important duty is being the state court of last resort and the highest judicial authority in the state of Kansas. The Court rarely conducts a trial. Its judicial responsibilities include hearing direct appeals from the district courts in the most serious criminal cases and appeals in any case in which a statute has been held unconstitutional. The Court has the authority to review cases decided by the Court of Appeals and the ability to transfer cases to the U.S. Supreme Court.^[1]

Administration[link]

The Kansas Supreme Court must adopt and submit to the Kansas Legislature an annual budget for the entire judicial branch of Kansas government.

Supervision[link]

According to the Kansas Constitution, the Court has general administrative authority over all Kansas courts. Its rules govern the appellate practice in the Kansas Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court. It sets the procedures in the district courts. It also provides oversight to the legal profession by setting rules that provide for the examination and admission of attorneys within the state, the code of professional responsibility which governs the conduct of attorneys, and include the canons of judicial ethics which regulate the conduct of judges. Lastly it sets the rules for the examination and certification of official court reports. To ensure compliance the Court may discipline attorneys, judges, and nonjudicial employees.

Justices[link]

Selection Process[link]

When a vacancy opens up on the Kansas Supreme Court, the Supreme Court Nominating Commission submits a list of three qualified individuals to the Governor of Kansas. The Commission is composed of five lawyer members and four non-lawyer members. One lawyer and one non-lawyer member must be from each of Kansas' congressional districts, and one additional lawyer member who serves as the chairperson. Lawyer members are elected by their peers in each individual congressional district while the non-lawyer members are appointed by the governor.^[2]

To be considered as a Justice, one must be between the ages of 30 and 70. One must also be an attorney licensed in Kansas and be active as a lawyer, judge, or teacher of law at an accredited law school for a minimum of ten years. If a person meets these requirements and wants to be considered for the office, one must complete a detailed nomination form summarizing their educational, professional, community, and financial background. The Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission reviews the nomination forms and chooses which potential nominees merit an interview.

The interviews are conducted in the Supreme Court’s Conference Room in Topeka. Generally the interview process will take a day and a half. There is no official set of questions, but topics such as the potential nominees’ legal scholarship, professional experience, writing ability, and community service are normally covered. The Commission also receives letters of recommendation and other background information on the candidates. Once the interviews are complete, the commission enters into discussion to reduce the list to the top six to eight nominees. Then the commission votes by secret ballot until a list of three nominees is chosen by majority vote to submit to the Governor.

Appointments[link]

The governor then selects one of the three from the Commission's list to become a justice. If the Governor fails to make an appointment within 60 days the choice is then made by the Chief Justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. After the first year in office, the justice undergoes a retention vote in the next general election. If the justice receives approval from a majority of electors the he or she remain in office for a 6 year term. After the conclusion of each term the justice must face another retention vote. Retirement is mandatory at age 70 or upon completion of the justice's current term.^[3]

The justice who has the longest continuous service is designated by the Kansas Constitution as the chief justice, unless he or she declines or resigns the position. The chief justice's duty is to exercise the administrative authority of the court.^[4] This merit system or Missouri Plan has been used in Kansas since 1958, voted in by Kansans upset when Governor Fred Hall resigned after losing the gubernatorial primary so he could be appointed to the Supreme Court by his successor Governor John McCuish.^[5]

Current Justices[link]

The Kansas Supreme Court has seven justices. This includes three women (Luckert, Beier, Caplinger), and five alumni of Washburn University School of Law (Luckert, Rosen, Johnson, Biles, Caplinger). The appointment of Dan Biles by Governor Sebelius marks the first time a majority of the court has been appointed by one person.^[6]

Removing a Justice[link]

Due to the checks and balances of the judicial branch with the legislative and executive branches, it is difficult to remove a Justice. Usually a Justice either dies, retires by choice, or retires after surpassing the state age limit of 70. A Justice may be removed by impeachment and conviction as specified in Article 3 of the Kansas Constitution. Justices can also be forced to retire upon certification to the governor after a hearing by the Supreme Court Nominating Commission that the Justice is so incapacitated as to be unable to perform the duties of the office.

History[link]

Following the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, President Franklin Pierce appointed Samuel Dexter LeCompte as the first chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Kansas Territory.^[7]

Notable Cases[link]

[edit] State v. Limon

The Kansas Supreme Court unanimously struck down part of a law that sentenced Matthew Limon to prison over a decade longer than a heterosexual would have received because of different age of consent laws for homosexuals.^[8]

[edit] Montoy v. Kansas

The court has ruled that the $2.7 billion in school funding was inadequate and distributed unfairly. It then recommend the Kansas legislature increase funding to schools and change the way the money was distributed.^{[9][10][11][12]} Many Republicans saw this as an act of judicial activism leading to some calls for changes in how justices are selected.^[13]

[edit] Kansas v. Marsh

The Court ruled in Kansas v. Marsh that the Kansas Death Penalty was unconstitutional because the Eighth Amendment prohibits imposing death when mitigating and aggravating sentencing factors were equally balanced. The United States Supreme Court disagreed and reversed in a 5-4 decision.^[14]

[edit] Kline v. Tiller

The Court unanimously allowed then Attorney General Phill Kline to examine the abortion records of 90 women to investigate possible crimes.^[15] It later denied Kline from pursuing 30 misdemeanor criminal charges against Dr. George Tiller after he lost office.^[16] The case was a major issue in the 2006 defeat of Kline by former prosecutor and former Attorney General Paul J. Morrison whose investigation found no crimes.^[17]

See also[link]

• Courts of Kansas

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kansas Supreme Court

Coordinates: 39°02′44″N 95°40′45″W / 39.045536°N 95.679068°W / 39.045536; -95.679068

v t e  State of Kansas Topeka (capital) Topics Index History Governors Delegations Landmarks People Places Geography Visitor Attractions Society Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics Regions Cherokee Strip Cross Timbers Dissected Till Plains East Central Four State Area Flint Hills High Plains North Central Osage Plains The Ozarks Red Hills Santa Fe Trail Region Smoky Hills Southeast Largest cities Derby Dodge City Emporia Garden City Hutchinson Junction City Kansas City Lawrence Leavenworth Leawood Lenexa Liberal Manhattan Olathe Overland Park Prairie Village Salina Shawnee Topeka Wichita Counties Allen Anderson Atchison Barber Barton Bourbon Brown Butler Chase Chautauqua Cherokee Cheyenne Clark Clay Cloud Coffey Comanche Cowley Crawford Decatur Dickinson Doniphan Douglas Edwards Elk Ellis Ellsworth Finney Ford Franklin Geary Gove Graham Grant Gray Greeley Greenwood Hamilton Harper Harvey Haskell Hodgeman Jackson Jefferson Jewell Johnson Kearny Kingman Kiowa Labette Lane Leavenworth Lincoln Linn Logan Lyon Marion Marshall McPherson Meade Miami Mitchell Montgomery Morris Morton Nemaha Neosho Ness Norton Osage Osborne Ottawa Pawnee Phillips Pottawatomie Pratt Rawlins Reno Republic Rice Riley Rooks Rush Russell Saline Scott Sedgwick Seward Shawnee Sheridan Sherman Smith Stafford Stanton Stevens Sumner Thomas Trego Wabaunsee Wallace Washington Wichita Wilson Woodson Wyandotte

v t e Justices of the Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss Marla J. Luckert • Carol A. Beier • Eric S. Rosen • Lee A. Johnson • Daniel Biles • Vacant

State of Kansas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Sunflower State (official); The Wheat State
Motto(s): Ad astra per aspera
Official language(s)	English[1]
Demonym	Kansan
Capital	Topeka
Largest city	Wichita
Largest metro area	Kansas portion of Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area
Area	Ranked 15th in the U.S.
- Total	82,277 sq mi (213,096 km2)
- Width	417 miles (645 km)
- Length	211 miles (340 km)
- % water	0.56
- Latitude	37° N to 40° N
- Longitude	94° 35′ W to 102° 3′ W
Population	Ranked 33rd in the U.S.
- Total	2,871,238 (2011 est)[2]
- Density	35.1/sq mi  (13.5/km2) Ranked 40th in the U.S.
- Median household income	$50,177 (25th)
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Sunflower[3][4] 4,041 ft (1232 m)
- Mean	2,000 ft  (610 m)
- Lowest point	Verdigris River at Oklahoma border[3][4] 679 ft (207 m)
Before statehood	Kansas Territory
Admission to Union	January 29, 1861 (34th)
Governor	Sam Brownback (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Jeff Colyer (R)
Legislature	Kansas Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Pat Roberts (R) Jerry Moran (R)
U.S. House delegation	Tim Huelskamp (R) Lynn Jenkins (R) Kevin Yoder (R) Mike Pompeo (R) (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Central: UTC-6/-5
- 4 western counties	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Abbreviations	KS US-KS
Website	www.kansas.gov

Kansas (ⁱ/ˈkænzəs/) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States.^[5] It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area.^[6] The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was probably not the term's original meaning.^[7][8] Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans."

For thousands of years what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the Eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the Western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861,^[9][10] Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly, when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, sorghum and sunflowers.^[11] Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States.

History[link]

For millennia, the land that is currently Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who explored the area in 1541.

In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas until the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848. From 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory. The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Wagon ruts from the trail are still visible in the prairie today.

In 1827, Fort Leavenworth became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included the sites of present-day Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.

Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, Kansas

Missouri and Arkansas sent settlers into Kansas all along its eastern border. These settlers attempted to sway votes in favor of slavery. The secondary settlement of Americans in Kansas Territory were abolitionists from Massachusetts and other Free-Staters, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Directly presaging the American Civil War, these forces collided, entering into skirmishes that earned the territory the name of Bleeding Kansas.

Kansas was admitted to the United States as a slave-free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. By that time the violence in Kansas had largely subsided. But, during the Civil War, on August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led several hundred men on a raid into Lawrence, destroying much of the city and killing nearly 200 people. He was roundly condemned by both the conventional Confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature. His application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre-war criminal record.^[12]

After the Civil War, many veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas. Many African Americans also looked to Kansas as the land of "John Brown" and, led by freedmen like Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, began establishing black colonies in the state. Leaving southern states in the late 1870s because of increasing discrimination, they became known as Exodusters.

At the same time, the Chisholm Trail was opened and the Wild West-era commenced in Kansas. Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays and Abilene. Dodge City was another wild cowboy town, and both Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp worked as lawmen in the town. In one year alone, 8 million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for the East, earning Dodge the nickname "Queen of the Cowtowns."

In part as a response to the violence perpetrated by cowboys, on February 19, 1881 Kansas became the first U.S. state to adopt a Constitutional amendment prohibiting all alcoholic beverages.

Geography[link]

Kanopolis State Park.

Flint Hills in Wabaunsee County

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, and is located equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon. The geodetic center of North America was located in Meades Ranch, Kansas, Osborne County until 1983. This spot was used until that date as the central reference point for all maps of North America produced by the U.S. government. The geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County.

Geology[link]

Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks. A sequence of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks underlie the eastern and southern part of the state. The western half of the state consists of Cretaceous through Tertiary sediments derived from the erosion of the uplifted Rocky Mountains to the west. The northeastern corner of the state was subjected to glaciation in the Pleistocene and is covered by glacial drift and loess.

Topography[link]

The western two-thirds of the state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, while the eastern third has many hills and forests. The land gradually rises from east to west; its altitude ranges from 684 ft (208 m) along the Verdigris River at Coffeyville in Montgomery County, to 4,039 ft (1,231 m) at Mount Sunflower, one half mile from the Colorado border, in Wallace County. It is a popular belief that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation, reinforced by a well-known 2003 study^[13] stating that Kansas was indeed "flatter than a pancake".^[14] This has since been called into question, with most scientists ranking Kansas somewhere between 20th and 30th flattest state, depending on measurement method. Its average elevation is 2,000 feet, higher than 36 states.^[15]

Rivers[link]

Spring River, Kansas

The Missouri River forms nearly 75 mi (121 km) of the state's northeastern boundary. The Kansas River (locally known as the Kaw), formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers at appropriately-named Junction City, joins the Missouri at Kansas City, after a course of 170 mi (270 km) across the northeastern part of the state. The Arkansas River (pronunciation varies), rising in Colorado, flows with a bending course for nearly 500 mi (800 km) across the western and southern parts of the state. It forms, with its tributaries (the Little Arkansas, Ninnescah, Walnut, Cow Creek, Cimarron, Verdigris, and the Neosho), the southern drainage system of the state. Other important rivers are the Saline and Solomon Rivers, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue, Delaware, and Wakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River. Spring River is located between Riverton (Fuglies), Kansas and Baxter Springs, Kansas.

National parks and historic sites[link]

Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include:^[16]

• Brown v. Board Of Education National Historic Site in Topeka
• California National Historic Trail
• Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned
• Fort Scott National Historic Site
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Nicodemus National Historic Site at Nicodemus
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City

Climate[link]

Kansas contains three climatic types, according to the Köppen climate classification: it has humid continental, semi-arid steppe, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the state (especially the northeastern portion) has a humid continental climate, with cool to cold winters and hot, often humid summers. Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and spring. The western third of the state – from about the U.S. Route 281 corridor westward – has a semiarid steppe climate. Summers are hot, often very hot, and generally less humid. Winters are highly changeable between warm and very cold. The western region receives an average of about 16 inches (410 mm) of precipitation per year. Chinook winds in the winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80 °F (27 °C) range. The far south-central and southeastern reaches of the state have a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers, milder winters and more precipitation than the rest of the state. Although not strictly falling in all of the zones, some features of all three climates can be found in most of the state, with droughts and changeable weather between dry and humid not uncommon, and both warm and cold spells in the winter.

Precipitation ranges from about 47 inches (1200 mm) annually in the southeast of the state, to about 16 inches (400 mm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (130 mm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (900 mm) in the far northwest. Frost-free days range from more than 200 days in the south, to 130 days in the northwest. Thus, Kansas is the 9th or 10th sunniest state in the country, depending on the source. Western Kansas is as sunny as California and Arizona.

Kansas is prone to severe weather, especially in the spring and early summer. In spite of the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state, due to its location at a climatic boundary prone to multiple air masses the state is vulnerable to strong and severe thunderstorms . Many of these storms become Supercell thunderstorms. These can spawn tornadoes, often of EF3 strength or higher. According to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center, Kansas has reported more tornadoes (for the period January 1, 1950 through October 31, 2006) than any state except for Texas – marginally even more than Oklahoma. It has also – along with Alabama – reported more F5 or EF5 tornadoes than any other state. These are the most powerful of all tornadoes. Kansas averages over 50 tornadoes annually.^[17] Severe thunderstorms sometimes drop very large Hail over Kansas as well as bringing flash flooding and damaging straight line winds.

According to NOAA, the all-time highest temperature recorded in Kansas is 121 °F (49.4 °C) on July 24, 1936, near Alton, and the all-time low is −40 °F (−40 °C) on February 13, 1905, near Lebanon.

Kansas's record high of 121 °F (49.4 °C) ties with North Dakota for the fifth-highest record high in an American state, behind California (134 °F/56.7 °C), Arizona (128 °F/53.3 °C), Nevada (125 °F/51.7 °C), and New Mexico (122 °F/50 °C).

Demographics[link]

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Kansas was 2,871,238 on July 1, 2011, a 0.6% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

According to the 2010 Census, 83.8% of the population was White (78.2% non-Hispanic white), 5.9% was Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 3.0% from two or more races. 10.5% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).^[19]

As of 2007, Kansas had an estimated population of 2,775,997, an increase of 20,180, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 87,579, or 3.3%, since the year 2000.^[20] This includes a natural increase since the last census of 93,899 people (that is 246,484 births minus 152,585 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 20,742 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 44,847 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 65,589 people.^[21] The population density of the state is 52.9 people per square mile.^[22] The center of population of Kansas is located in Chase County, at 38°27′N 96°32′W / 38.45°N 96.533°W / 38.45; -96.533, approximately three miles north of the community of Strong City.^[23]

Population pyramid

As of 2004, the population included 149,800 foreign-born (5.5% of the state population). The ten largest reported ancestry groups, which account for over 85% of the population, in the state are: German (33.75%), Irish (14.4%), English (14.1%), American (7.5%), French (4.4%), Scottish (4.2%), Dutch (2.5%), Swedish (2.4%), Italian (1.8%), and Polish (1.5%).^[24] People of German ancestry are especially strong in the northwest, while those of English ancestry and descendants of white Americans from other states are especially strong in the southeast. Mexicans are present in the southwest and make up nearly half the population in certain counties. Many African Americans in Kansas are descended from the Exodusters, newly freed blacks who fled the South for land in Kansas following the Civil War.

Religion[link]

The 2008 Pew Religious Landscape Survey showed the religious makeup of Kansas was as follows:

• Christian 86%
  • Protestant 53.7%
    • United Methodist 13.3%
    • Baptist 12.8%
    • Non-denominational Protestant 6.4%
    • Lutheran 5.9%
    • Restorationist 5.5%
    • Presbyterian 4.3%
    • Episcopalian/Anglican 2.4%
  • Roman Catholic 29%
  • Latter Day Saints/Mormons 2%
  • Jehovah's Witness 2%
  • Non denominational 1%
  • Other Christian 3%
• Non-religious 9%
• Jewish 2%
• Other 2%

As of the year 2000, the RCMS^[25] reported that the three largest denominational groups in Kansas are Mainline Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, and Catholic. The Catholic Church has the highest number of adherents in Kansas (at 405,844), followed by the United Methodist Church with 206,187 members reported and the Southern Baptist Convention, reporting 101,696 adherents.

Though small, the Kansas Baha'i community has the distinction of being the second in the western hemisphere, founded in 1897 in Enterprise, Kansas.^[26]

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 id:pcturban  legend:Percent_urban  value:rgb(1,0,0)
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 bar:1860urban
 bar:1860rural  text:1860
 bar:space1
 bar:1870urban
 bar:1870rural
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 bar:1880urban
 bar:1880rural  text:1880
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 bar:1960rural  text:1960
 bar:space11
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 bar:1980rural  text:1980
 bar:space13
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 bar:2000rural  text:2000
 bar:pctaxis

 width:5  mark:none

 bar:1860urban  color:urban  from:0  till:10.045
   at:end  align:right  shift:(0,7)  text:Pop.
   at:end  align:left  shift:(2,7)  text:(thousands)
 bar:1860rural  color:rural  from:0  till:97.161
 bar:1870urban  color:urban  from:0  till:51.870
 bar:1870rural  color:rural  from:0  till:312.529
 bar:1880urban  color:urban  from:0  till:104.956
 bar:1880rural  color:rural  from:0  till:891.140
 bar:1890urban  color:urban  from:0  till:269.539
 bar:1890rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1158.569
 bar:1900urban  color:urban  from:0  till:329.696
 bar:1900rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1140.799
 bar:1910urban  color:urban  from:0  till:492.312
 bar:1910rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1198.637
 bar:1920urban  color:urban  from:0  till:616.485
 bar:1920rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1152.772
 bar:1930urban  color:urban  from:0  till:729.834
 bar:1930rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1151.165
 bar:1940urban  color:urban  from:0  till:753.941
 bar:1940rural  color:rural  from:0  till:1047.087
 bar:1950urban  color:urban  from:0  till:993.220
 bar:1950rural  color:rural  from:0  till:912.079
 bar:1960urban  color:urban  from:0  till:1328.741
 bar:1960rural  color:rural  from:0  till:849.870
 bar:1970urban  color:urban  from:0  till:1484.870
 bar:1970rural  color:rural  from:0  till:761.708
 bar:1980urban  color:urban  from:0  till:1575.899
 bar:1980rural  color:rural  from:0  till:787.780
 bar:1990urban  color:urban  from:0  till:1712.564
 bar:1990rural  color:rural  from:0  till:765.010
 bar:2000urban  color:urban  from:0  till:1920.669
 bar:2000rural  color:rural  from:0  till:767.749

 bar:pctaxis  width:0.5  color:black  from:start  till:end
 at:end  align:left  shift:(0,7)  text:"%"

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 at:0  text:0
 at:500  text:25
 at:1000  text:50
 at:1500  text:75
 at:2000  text:100

 layer:front  width:1  color:pcturban
 points:(51,28)(68,35) # 9.4 to 14.2
 points:(68,35)(86,30) # 14.2 to 10.5
 points:(86,30)(103,42) # 10.5 to 18.9
 points:(103,42)(121,48) # 18.9 to 22.4
 points:(121,48)(138,58) # 22.4 to 29.1
 points:(138,58)(156,66) # 29.1 to 34.8
 points:(156,66)(173,72) # 34.8 to 38.8
 points:(173,72)(191,77) # 38.8 to 41.9
 points:(191,77)(208,92) # 41.9 to 52.1
 points:(208,92)(226,106) # 52.1 to 61.0
 points:(226,106)(243,113) # 61.0 to 66.1
 points:(243,113)(261,114) # 66.1 to 66.7
 points:(261,114)(278,118) # 66.7 to 69.1
 points:(278,118)(296,121) # 69.1 to 71.4

In 2012 it was reported there has been a growth in Mormons and Catholics.^[27]

Rural flight[link]

Kansas is one of the slowest-growing states in the nation. Known as a rural flight, the last few decades have been marked by a migratory pattern out of the countryside into cities.

Out of all the cities in these Midwestern states, 89% have fewer than 3,000 people, and hundreds of those have fewer than 1,000. In Kansas alone, there are more than 6,000 ghost towns and dwindling communities,^[28] according to one Kansas historian, Daniel C. Fitzgerald.

At the same time, some of the communities in Johnson County (metropolitan Kansas City) are among the fastest-growing in the country.

Economy[link]

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimates that the total GDP in 2008 was $122.7 billion, making it the United States's 32nd highest state by GDP.^[29] Per capita personal income in 2008 was $35,013. As of January 2010, the states unemployment rate is 6.4%.^[30]

The agricultural outputs of the state are cattle, sheep, wheat, sorghum, soybeans, cotton, hogs, corn, and salt. Eastern Kansas is part of the Grain Belt, an area of major grain production in the central United States. The industrial outputs are transportation equipment, commercial and private aircraft, food processing, publishing, chemical products, machinery, apparel, petroleum and mining.

Kansas ranks 8th in U.S. oil production. Production has experienced a steady, natural decline as it becomes increasingly difficult to extract oil over time. Since oil prices bottomed in 1999, oil production in Kansas has remained fairly constant, with an average monthly rate of about 2.8 million barrels (450,000 m³) in 2004. The recent higher prices have made carbon dioxide sequestration and other oil recovery techniques more economical.

Kansas ranks 8th in U.S. natural gas production. Production has steadily declined since the mid-1990s with the gradual depletion of the Hugoton Natural Gas Field—the state's largest field which extends into Oklahoma and Texas. In 2004, slower declines in the Hugoton gas fields and increased coalbed methane production contributed to a smaller overall decline. Average monthly production was over 32 billion cubic feet (0.9 km³).

The Kansas economy is also heavily influenced by the aerospace industry. Several large aircraft corporations have manufacturing facilities in Wichita and Kansas City, including Spirit AeroSystems, Boeing, Cessna, Learjet, and Hawker Beechcraft (formerly Raytheon).

Major company headquarters in Kansas include the Sprint Nextel Corporation (with world headquarters in Overland Park), Embarq (with national headquarters in Overland Park), YRC Worldwide (Overland Park), Garmin (Olathe), Payless Shoes (national headquarters and major distribution facilities in Topeka), and Koch Industries (with national headquarters in Wichita).

Taxes[link]

Kansas has three income brackets for income tax calculation, ranging from 3.5% to 6.45%. The state sales tax in Kansas is 6.3%. Various cities and counties in Kansas have an additional local sales tax. Except during the 2001 recession (March–November 2001) when monthly sales tax collections were flat, collections have trended higher as the economy has grown and two rate increases have been enacted. Total sales tax collections for 2003 amounted to $1.63 billion, compared to $805.3 million in 1990.

Revenue shortfalls resulting from lower than expected tax collections and slower growth in personal income following a 1998 permanent tax reduction has contributed to the substantial growth in the state's debt level as bonded debt increased from $1.16 billion in 1998 to $3.83 billion in 2006. Some increase in debt was expected as the state continues with its 10-year Comprehensive Transportation Program enacted in 1999. As of June 2004, Moody's Investors Service ranked the state 14th for net tax-supported debt per capita. As a percentage of personal income, it was at 3.8%—above the median value of 2.5% for all rated states and having risen from a value of less than 1% in 1992. The state has a statutory requirement to maintain cash reserves of at least 7.5% of expenses at the end of each fiscal year, however, lawmakers can vote to override the rule, and did so during the most recent budget agreement.

Transportation[link]

Interstate 35 as it enters Kansas in Rosedale.

Kansas is served by two Interstate highways with one beltway, two spur routes, and three bypasses, with over a total of 874 miles (1,407 km) in all. The first section of Interstate in the nation was opened on I-70 just west of Topeka on November 14, 1956. I-70 is a major east/west route connecting to St. Louis and Kansas City, Missouri, in the east and Denver, Colorado, in the west. Cities along this route (from east to west) include Kansas City, Lawrence, Topeka, Junction City, Salina, Hays, and Colby. I-35 is a major north/south route connecting to Des Moines, Iowa, in the north and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in the south. Cities along this route (from north to south) include Kansas City (and suburbs), Ottawa, Emporia, El Dorado, and Wichita.

Spur routes serve as connections between the two major routes. I-135, a north/south route, connects I-70 at Salina to I-35 at Wichita. I-335, a northeast/southwest route, connects I-70 at Topeka to I-35 at Emporia. I-335 and portions of I-35 and I-70 make up the Kansas Turnpike. Bypasses include I-470 around Topeka and I-235 around Wichita. I-435 is a beltway around the Kansas City Metropolitan Area while I-635 bypasses through Kansas City, Kansas.

US Route 69 runs north and south, from Minnesota to Texas. The highway passes through the eastern section of Kansas, from the Kansas City area, through Louisburg, Fort Scott, Frontenac, Pittsburg, and Baxter Springs before entering Oklahoma.

Map of the Kansas road system.

Kansas also has the second largest state highway system in the country after California. This is because of the high number of counties and county seats (105) and the intertwining of them all.

In January 2004, the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) announced the new Kansas 511 traveler information service.^[32] By dialing 511, callers will get access to information about road conditions, construction, closures, detours and weather conditions for the state highway system. Weather and road condition information is updated every 15 minutes.

The state's only major commercial (Class C) airport is Wichita Mid-Continent Airport, located along US-54 on the western edge of the city. Manhattan Regional Airport in Manhattan offers daily flights to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, making it the second-largest commercial airport in the state.^[33] Most air travelers in northeastern Kansas fly out of Kansas City International Airport, located in Platte County, Missouri. For those in the far western part of the state, Denver International Airport is a popular option. Connecting flights are also available from smaller Kansas airports in Dodge City, Garden City, Great Bend, Hays, Hutchinson, and Salina. Forbes Field in Topeka sustained commercial flights on Allegiant Air for short period of time until that service was terminated in 2007.

Law and government[link]

State and local politics[link]

Kathleen Sebelius accepting her nomination by President Barack Obama as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Executive branch: The executive branch consists of six elected officers. The Governor and Lt Governor are elected on the same slate, the Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and State Insurance Commissioner are elected separately. The six top executive offices of Kansas are all Republican. Governor Sam Brownback and Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer were elected in 2010 on the same ticket to a maximum of two consecutive four-year terms. Also elected in 2010 were the Attorney General Derek Schmidt of Independence; the Secretary of State Kris Kobach, of Piper; the State Treasurer Ron Estes, of Wichita; and the Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, of Topeka.

Legislative branch: The bicameral Kansas Legislature consists of the Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 members serving two-year terms, and the Kansas Senate, with 40 members serving four-year terms. Currently, 32 of the 40 Senators are Republican and 92 of the 125 Representatives are Republican.

Judicial branch: The Judicial branch of the state government is headed by the Kansas Supreme Court. The court has seven judges. A vacancy is filled by the Governor picking one of three nominees selected by a 9-member judicial selection board. The board consists of five Kansas lawyers elected by other Kansas lawyers and four members selected by the Governor.

Kansas has a reputation as a progressive state with many firsts in legislative initiatives—it was the first state to institute a system of workers' compensation (1910) and to regulate the securities industry (1911). Kansas also permitted women's suffrage in 1912, almost a decade before the federal constitution was amended to require it. Suffrage in all states would not be guaranteed until ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920. The council-manager government was adopted by many larger Kansas cities in the years following World War I while many American cities were being run by political machines or organized crime, notably the Pendergast Machine in neighboring Kansas City, Missouri. Kansas was also at the center of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, a 1954 Supreme Court decision that banned racially segregated schools throughout the U.S.

Kansas was one of the few states in which Franklin D. Roosevelt had limited political support, winning Kansas only twice in his four campaigns, although he won the state over Kansas governor Alfred M. Landon during the landslide of 1936. The state backed Republicans Wendell Willkie and Thomas E. Dewey in 1940 and 1944, respectively. Kansas also supported Dewey in 1948 despite the presence of incumbent president Harry S. Truman, who hailed from Independence, Missouri, approximately 15 miles east of the Kansas-Missouri state line. Since FDR carried Kansas in 1932 and 1936, only one Democrat has won Kansas' electoral votes, Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.

Over the past four decades, Kansas has remained more socially conservative than many parts of the nation. The 1990s brought new restrictions on abortion, the defeat of prominent Democrats, including Dan Glickman, and the Kansas State Board of Education's 1999 decision to eliminate evolution from the state teaching standards, a decision that was later reversed.^[34] In 2005, voters accepted a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The next year, the state passed a law setting a minimum age for marriage at 15 years.^[35] In 2008, Governor Sebelius vetoed permits for the construction of new coal-fired energy plants in Kansas, saying: "We know that greenhouse gases contribute to climate change. As an agricultural state, Kansas is particularly vulnerable. Therefore, reducing pollutants benefits our state not only in the short term – but also for generations of Kansans to come."^[36] However, shortly after Mark Parkinson became governor in 2009 upon Sebelius's resignation, Parkinson announced a compromise plan to allow construction of a coal-fired plant.

In 2010, Sam Brownback was elected governor with 63 percent of the state vote. He was sworn in as governor in 2011, Kansas' first Republican governor in eight years. Brownback campaigned on a five-point Road Map for Kansas, which consisted of five quantifiable objectives:

1. Increase in net personal income.
2. Increase in private sector employment.
3. Increase in the percentage of 4th graders reading at grade level.
4. Increase in the percentage of high school graduates who are college or career ready.
5. Decrease in the percentage of Kansas’ children who live in poverty.

For the 2012 legislative session, Brownback has identified five major objectives:

1. Major reform of the taxation system as a way to reduce Kansas' unemployment.
2. Reduction in the ever-increasing amounts paid for Medicaid.
3. Revision of the school finance formula, which has become outdated and ineffective.
4. Structural government reform to reduce the cost of government to keep the budget in balance.
5. Elimination of over $8 billion in unfunded liabilities of the state employee pension program (KPERS), which is one of the most financial unstable in the nation.

Brownback had established himself as a very conservative member of the U.S. Senate in years prior, but since becoming governor has made several controversial decisions. In May 2011, much to the opposition of art leaders and enthusiasts in the state, Brownback eliminated the Kansas Arts Commission, making Kansas the first state without an arts agency.^[37] In July 2011, Brownback announced plans to close the Lawrence branch of the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services as a cost-saving measure. Hundreds rallied against the decision.^[38] Lawrence City Commission later voted to provide the funding needed to keep the branch open.^[39]

Federal politics[link]

The state's current delegation to the Congress of the United States includes Republican Senators Pat Roberts of Dodge City and Jerry Moran of Hays; and Republican Representatives Tim Huelskamp of Fowler (District 1), Lynn Jenkins of Topeka (District 2), Kevin Yoder of Overland Park (District 3), and Mike Pompeo of Wichita (District 4).

Historically, Kansas has been strongly Republican, dating from the Antebellum age when the Republican Party was created out of the movement opposing the extension of slavery into Kansas Territory. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since the 1932 election, when Franklin D. Roosevelt won his first term as President in the wake of the Great Depression. This is the longest Senate losing streak for either party in a single state. Senator Sam Brownback was a candidate for the Republican party nomination for President in 2008. Brownback was not a candidate for re-election to a third full term in 2010, but he was elected Governor in that year's general election. Moran defeated Tiahrt for the Republican nomination for Brownback's seat in the August 2010 primary, then won a landslide general election victory over Democrat Lisa Johnston.

The only non-Republican presidential candidates Kansas has given its electoral vote to are Populist James Weaver and Democrats Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt (twice), and Lyndon Johnson. In 2004, George W. Bush won the state's six electoral votes by an overwhelming margin of 25 percentage points with 62% of the vote. The only two counties to support Democrat John Kerry in that election were Wyandotte, which contains Kansas City, and Douglas, home to the University of Kansas, located in Lawrence. The 2008 election brought similar results as John McCain won the state with 57% of the votes. Douglas, Wyandotte, and Crawford County were the only counties in support of President Barack Obama.^[40]

In 1996, when Kansas Republican Senator Bob Dole failed in his bid to become President on the party's national ticket, the state became the second in the nation (following Minnesota and preceding Arizona by identical twelve-year intervals) to produce two losing major-party presidential candidates, and the first in which the said candidates ran on the GOP ticket (following Alfred Landon's loss to FDR in 1936).

State law[link]

See also: Alcohol laws of Kansas

The legal drinking age in Kansas is 21. In lieu of the state retail sales tax, a 10% Liquor Drink Tax is collected for liquor consumed on the licensed premises and an 8% Liquor Enforcement Tax is collected on retail purchases. Although the sale of cereal malt beverage (also known as 3.2 beer) was legalized in 1937, the first post-Prohibition legalization of alcoholic liquor did not occur until the state's constitution was amended in 1948. The following year the Legislature enacted the Liquor Control Act which created a system of regulating, licensing, and taxing, and the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) was created to enforce the act. The power to regulate cereal malt beverage remains with the cities and counties. Liquor-by-the-drink did not become legal until passage of an amendment to the state's constitution in 1986 and additional legislation the following year. As of November 2006, Kansas still has 29 dry counties and only 17 counties have passed liquor-by-the-drink with no food sales requirement.^[41] Today there are more than 2600 liquor and 4000 cereal malt beverage licensees in the state.^[42]

Important cities and towns[link]