Kansas chief justice creates initiative to address the need for more rural lawyers, as other Plains states have done

Chief Justice Marla Luckert said the lack of attorneys in rural Kansas
areas was at a crisis point. (Photo by Rachel Mipro, Kansas Reflector)

Kansas needs more lawyers. Not just any kind of lawyers; rural lawyers. It's a problem that other Great Plains states have tried to address, and now Kansas Chief Justice Marla Luckert has tackled it, reports Rachel Mipro of Kansas Reflector. "Eighty percent of all active Kansas attorneys live in six urban counties, leaving Kansas rural communities struggling to find legal help." The coal of the Rural Justice Initiative Committee is "attracting attorneys to practices in rural areas."

“We have to recognize that there is not access to justice, and the system of seeking redress for those grievances is unbalanced because it’s financially inaccessible," Luckert told Mipro. "The lack of attorneys constitutes a crisis, damaging the lives of rural residents."

To attract younger attorneys to rural areas, committee members told Mipro, "they would have to address social factors that prevent young attorneys from moving to rural areas, such as the lack of shopping centers, activities and fewer romantic prospects."

"The 35-member committee will collect data on the legal needs of rural populations, make recommendations about existing Kansas rural attorney recruitment projects and study demographic trends," Mipro. reports "At the end of 18 months, the committee will report back to the Supreme Court with its initial recommendations." Luckert told the new committee: "Good luck. It's a big task."