Legislature to ponder reorganization of court system
(Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of three stories about issues being considered by the present edition.)
By RICHARD PAXSON
By RICHARD PAXSON
Kanson Staff Reporter
The Kansas judicial system will be totally reorganized for the first time if the 1975 Kansas Legislature adopts the recommendations of a study on the courts.
The recommendations are contained in the 120 page report of the Kansas Judicial Study Advisory Committee (KJSAC). The committee, appointed by the 1737 Kansas Legislature, has forwarded the report to the interim committee on the judiciary where the proposed changes will be composed in bill form.
The report's major proposals are the creation of a Kansas court of appeals, the unification of all courts below the district court level, the abolition of high court courts and the nonpartisan election of all judges.
The court of appeals would be an intermediate court between the district court and the Kansas Supreme Court. Appeals of district court verdicts now go directly to the Supreme Court.
Under the proposed reorganization, the court of appeals would have appellate jurisdiction in all appeals from the district courts and state administrative agencies. Cases that by statute must be appealed directly to the Supreme Court, such as those cases in which a statute has been declared criminal or the death penalty has been prescribed in a criminal case, would be unaffected by the plan.
THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED that the court of appeals be composed of a chief judge and six associate judges. A panel of three judges would have to decide on the cases they have to agree before a verdict could be reached.
The composition of the panel would change with each case. The panel could sit anywhere in the state, often in the city where the case was tried in district court.
James James, judicial administrator of the Kansas Supreme Court, said Monday the court of appeals proposal should be adopted because it would reduce the number of appeals taken to the Supreme Court and reduce the costs and delay of appeals.
The delay in an appeal from district court to the
Supreme Court is now 18 months," James said. "The proposal should reduce the record of court proceedings."
The major costs of a Supreme Court appeal, the preparation of the required 30 copies of legal briefs and lawyers' expenses for trips to Topeka for the appeal hearings, would be less for the many routine cases he has solved, he said, because an appeals panel would have judged and could sit anywhere in the state.
James said the reduction in the number of appeals to the Supreme Court would allow it to spend more time on issues.
SOME PERSONS HAVE suggested that any defendant should have the automatic right to appeal an unfavorable court of appeals ruling to the Supreme Court. The KA53 A report recommends that courts should right to reject appeals from court of appeals decision or to accept them by issuing a writ of certiorari.
"Without certiorari, you achieved real effort," James said. "You've just put another step the problem to, and you're creating a court of affidavit to provide a more quick, inexpensive review of trial court verdicts."
The unification of the district courts with the probate, juvenile, county and city magistrate courts is proposed in the report to increase state control of the lower trial courts, provide state financing for the court system and to upgrade the qualifications of judges.
The unified system would be composed of district courts presided over by district court judges, associate district judges and magistrate district judges.
One district court judge in each district would serve as an administrative judge. He would assign cases or classes of cases to the district, associate district or magistrate district court judges in his district on the basis of the judge's legal training, his special expertise and the type of case.
ALL JUDGES EXCEPT the magistrate court judge would be required to have experience as a judge, lawyer or law professor for six years before their appointment.
"Some judges just aren't qualified to handle some James actions our plan provides for the mission," said one judge.
The ultimate goal of the proposal is to bring more
law-trained judges into the judicial system, James said.
He said that in 79 Kansas counties the county judges didn't have legal training and in seven counties only the district judge had such training. But the court's chief justice of courts under district court supervision. James said
The unification of the court system and the elimination of municipal courts is recommended in the KMAC report to reduce unequal treatment of the same people with the same offences in courts across the state.
The report states: "Most of the contact of the citizen is with the lower trial courts, and his imprinted judicial system are formed by these contacts. By eliminating those contacts, the number of untrained nonlawyer magistrates to a minimum and providing for the trial of all matters by judges of the unified court, unequal treatment
JAMES EMPHASIZED THAT the issue of unifying the state court system was separable from the issue of abolishing municipal courts and that the Legislature could approve one without the other.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
See COURTS Page 5
KANSAN
Actually, the bill legalizes something that
House OKs booze in officials' homes
The Judiciary Committee of the Senate is now studying the bill before it is debated on the Senate floor. If passed by the Senate, it would be approved by the member, who has said he would sign the bill.
State Rep. Lloyd Buzzi, R-Lawrence, who voted for the bill, said recently there was little discussion in the House relating to the college extended to colleges and universities.
Currently, the law states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to drink or consume alcoholic liquor upon , . . . property owned by or any governmental subdivision thereof."
Persons found guilty of violating the statute are subject to a fine of no less than $50 nor more than $200, or imprisonment for up to six months, or both.
Out of the closet
BY MICHAEL WARDROH
Kansan Staff Reporter
By Staff Photographer ROD MIKINSKI
A bill passed last week by the kansas legislature would legally allow teachers to consume coffee and its offences. However, students living in residence halls at the state colleges and universities won't be allowed to drink it.
The bill (HB 2127) was introduced by the House Federal and State Affairs Committee on January 30, 2014.
An unidentified friend accompanies A'lan Speak, biology teaching assistant, and Don Ward. Overland Park senator, to class in Haworth Hall.
The University of Kansas Lawrence,Kansas
"If there is some form of discrimination with this legislation, I definitely believe it should be voiced," he said. "I'm quite sure if some students feel strongly enough about the bill being unfair, the Senate would be glad to hear these comments."
By MICHAEL WARDROP
Buzzi said he supposed that if a student lived in a residence hall 12 months a year, and claimed it was his permanent room, he would have some complaint against the hill.
In regard to residence hall directors and resident assistants' being included within the legislation, Dykes said he really didn't want his opinion as to what the effects would be.
Chancellor Archie R. Dykes said the effect of the bill on the University of Kansas would depend on how it was written and what its provisions were.
'I'm sure there was no intentional discrimination against the students at the university.'
Vol. 85-No.79 Wednesday, January 29,1975
has been taking place for many years, Buzzi said.
If the current law is changed, the University will abide by the new ruling. Dkirk
See LIQUOR Page 8
Students living in the residence halls who were interviewed expressed negative reactions to the proposed bill as it stands today.
Specifically, the measure would permit liquor consumption at Cedar Crest, the governor's mansion; the residences of the heads of the Regent institutions and at residences of superintendents at state mental and renal institutions.
"If the chancellor and governor are allowed to consume liquor at their residences, I can't understand why the students shouldn't have that same right."
Faculty work load debated
By BETTY HAEGELIN Kansan Staff Reporter
Contrary to statements made this week by state Sen. Ross Doyen, R-Concordia, a recent University study has shown the average faculty work week at the University of Kansas to be far above the state norm.
Del Shankel, executive vice chancellor, said Monday a faculty load analysis prepared for the Board of Regents showed that the average faculty member worked 57 hours a week rather than the usual 40 hours a week. Shankel said this study was a comprehensive analysis of all unclassified faculty members and did not provide additional information because the University hadn't been authorized by the Regents to release the report.
The question of adequate faculty work loads arose recently when Doyen said institutions under the Board of Regents were opposing a new state bieweto pay plan that would require their unclassified employees' time. Faculty members are unclassified employees.
However, administrators and faculty members both have answered that the high costs of the program, rather than opposition to it, are a major barrier for their dissenting to the proposed plan.
First year costs for implementing the program would be $123,441, with $69,441
needed each year after that to maintain it.
Ron Hamilton, University compriller,
said. However, these costs could rise if
information is required in order to require
bx the seal, je said.
Figures such as these have caused faculty members to express fear that costs of the changeover to the program would require that could be better used in other programs.
"We have no objection, as state employees, to having taxpayers know what we're doing," Frances Ingmann, chapter president of the American Association of University professors (AUP), said. However, the real concern of faculty was that the plan would result in a great diversion of funds that could be spent better elsewhere."
Ingemann said Doyen probably didn't understand the situation and responsibilities of faculty members on campus, and said if all work was considered, faculty members would definitely be putting in over 40 hours work each week.
"I really depends on what he chooses to consider as teaching," she said. "If he would like us to discontinue the practice of helping students in our offices and in instruction, I think we might rank the only method of teaching is through standing before a crowded classroom."
Although Doyen said he was in agreement
Phone service to give news in 6 languages
Kansan Staff Reporter
This dial-the-news” concept is a four month experiment called Project Interface. The project will tie-in, or interface, with the Bell Telephone system.
Current newscasts from several foreign broadcast stations will soon be available to Lawrence residents through the University of Missouri's Telecommunications when they dial a telephone number.
Bv. JIM McNICKLE
The procedure to hear the newcasts will involve dialing a chosen telephone number. The impulse which ordinarily rings the phone will instead turn on a tape deck, which will play 5- to 10-minute segments of news broadcasts from a frequent from shortwave broadcasts.
"WE WANT TO get away from the canned language of textbooks, and this will give students live, current, supplemental materials." Gariner said Monday.
In mid-February, six tape decks will be installed in the language lab and connected with telephones in the Bell Telephone system. At that time, Garinger said, he will announce the telephone numbers to dial for the particular languages.
It will enable students and nonstudents in the University community to utilize the language laboratories for foreign language study at any time, even when the labs are according to Ermal Gäringer, director of the University's language laboratories.
Initially the newscasts will be in French, the newscasts Russian, Spanish and an oriental lanu-
cature.
According to Garinger, the equipment will be completely automatic, requiring no personnel except for trouble shooting, answering questions, checking the quality of the programming and other minor operational activities.
In addition to students of language and foreign students, other groups such as students of international relations, linguistics or area studies might use the programming for their professional studies. Garner said
"THIS PROJECT WILL be a significant
"It's so difficult to apply this program, as we have too many diverse duties to have one rule apply to everybody." Handley said. "This plan would be just another piece of paperwork to take up our time and keep us away from the classroom."
Jerry R. Magnuson, associate director of the Computation Center in charge of administrative production systems, helped estimate costs and procedures necessary for the University to change over to the new pay plan.
step for the language laboratories toward
bearning the students and community.
with Gov Bennett's calls for increased classroom teaching by faculty members, he thought better accountability for time spent in any academic endeavor was his goal.
Funds for the project were provided See PHONE, Page 8.
"I'm sure a lot of professors spend the time away from classroom doing research and teaching. I don't do this." Doyen said, "I don't care where or how they spend the time working, even if they want to record two hours study at home each night. I just want some definite
Robert Cobb, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said that the college faculty probably always had been and would be functioning to serve the good of the University, but that a difficulty arose in defining the general good.
Joan Handley, member of the executive committee of AUP, also said she thought the plan was too restrictive to account for the lack of faculty member did in the University.
"The ultimate cost to the University will depend upon how the state decides we are to implement the plan," Magnuson said. "We're going to have to make modifications to our present system, but how much will depend upon how much information we will be required to provide above what our present system handles."
"With the various areas of research and teaching, it's rather difficult to quantify the college 'good,'" Cobb said. "We hope we can come to some system of faculty accents but we're not sure this system properly gets at the diversity of faculty tasks."
★★★
Teaching should increase with pay.Bennett says
TOPEKA-Gav. Robert Bennett re-firmed Tuesday his earlier statement that the teaching loads of faculty at state universities should increase as their salaries rise.
In a question-and-answer session with about 100 invited Kansas editors and broadcasters, Bennett said he understood the need for faculty research and didn't favor establishment of a minimum teaching floor. However, Bennett said that ministry should study faculty classroom teaching loads at their schools and increase them where possible.
be "born." Bennett said.
In his Jan. 23 budget message to the Kansas Legislature, Bennett asked for a 10 per cent pay increase for faculty members at the state schools, but said the raise was recommended with the understanding that the department would not exempt to increase classroom teaching loads.
Bennert suggested that a "show the flag" effort by administrators to study and inure legislators to impress legislators and enhance the chances for approval of the pay increase.
"Pimples" poetry
While Santa, played by Cliff Rackard, Lawrence sophomore, and Virginia, played by Judi Sterling, Lawrence freshman, listed in the playbook, starred as a rookie.
Rv Staff Photographer GEORGE MILLENER III
poetry in "Pimples," the first William Inge Theatre Series production of the semester. See story page 7.