(Developing: Will be updated)
Betting that the Kansas Senate will have a change of heart, Gov. Laura Kelly on Monday renominated Carl Folsom III to the Kansas Court of Appeals a little more than two months after the chamber torpedoed his nomination
Folsom “knows the struggle of Kansans who face economic insecurity,” Kelly said.
“He knows the challenges in our criminal justice system and as a public defender he was willing to go the extra mile to protect Kansans fundamental right to an attorney.”
The Senate refused to confirm Folsom in June because his background was too narrowly focused on work as a public defender, a vote that drew fierce criticism from the legal community, including Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall.
Folsom came up three votes short of the 21 needed to be confirmed to the Kansas Court of Appeals, making him the second of the governor’s appeals court appointments to be turned down since taking office.
The vote was 18-17. Four Republican senators – Ed Berger, Bruce Givens, Eric Rucker and Mary Jo Taylor – passed on the vote.
All four of those senators lost their primary races earlier this month although several who opposed his nomination are facing general election challenges.
The Senate will not act on the the governor’s nomination until next year when the political make up of the chamber may change following this year’s elections.
Six of the 17 senators who opposed Folsom in June face robust general election campaigns and a seventh already lost a primary race – albeit to a conservative.
An eighth senator – Senate President Susan Wagle – is not running for reelection and a Democrat with ties to former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is mounting a challenge for that seat.
Two Republican supporters of Folsom – Sens. John Skubal and Randall Hardy – lost their primaries.
Kelly believes the dynamic will change when senators return next year.
“We have heard from a number of senators that they regret the vote that they took or the one that they passed on,” the governor said.
“I fully expect the Senate will come back and do the right thing this time and confirm Carl Folsom to the Court of Appeals,” she said.
“He is by all measures qualified for this,” she said. “He is a good person. He deserves to be on the court.”
Republican Sen. Ty Masterson, a likely candidate for Senate president, said he wanted a more thorough vetting of Folsom next session.
“The nominee was voted down for many reasons, not the least of which was his lack of diverse legal experience and problematic answers to questions of judicial philosophy,” Masterson said in statement.
“I’m looking forward to a fuller vetting of his qualifications when the Senate meets in January, and an explanation from Gov. Kelly as to why we should favor her campaign donors for judicial positions over more qualified attorneys.”
Folsom gave Kelly a $250 contribution to her gubernatorial campaign in 2018.
Folsom has worked as an assistant federal public defender in Topeka since 2014.
Before that he served as an assistant federal public defender in Oklahoma after working in private practice for about three years.
He also worked in the Kansas appellate defender office, handling criminal appeals for indigent defendants.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kansas, graduating with honors and highest distinction. He received a law degree from KU in 2005.
Folsom dominated balloting when a screening committee recommended him a second time for a seat on the Court of Appeals.
All nine members of the commission created by Kelly to review appeals court appointments backed Folsom for the judgeship in three separate rounds of voting.
The committee recommended Folsom along with Sedgwick County prosecutor Lesley A. Isherwood and Fairway judicial law clerk Russell Keller to replace Judge Steve Leben.
