Hon. Jerome P. Hellmer, chief judge of the 28th Judicial District, will sit with the state Supreme Court Monday, August 29, to hear oral arguments in two civil cases on the Court’s docket.

The Supreme Court appointed Judge Hellmer to join them in place of Justice Nancy L. Moritz, who recused because she was a member of the Court of Appeals during that Court’s decision in the cases. Judge Hellmer is currently completing his 20th year as a district judge. He has been chief judge of the 28th Judicial District, which consists of Saline and Ottawa counties, since January.

Chief Judge Hellmer will sit with the Court to hear oral arguments in two petitions for review of Court of Appeals decisions in medical malpractice cases from Sedgwick County and then participate in the high court deliberations and opinion drafting.

Judge Hellmer was appointed as District Judge in the 28th Judicial District in 1996. His case assignments include matters on the civil, criminal, and domestic dockets. A graduate of the University of Kansas and Washburn University School of Law, Judge Hellmer spent 22 years in the private practice of law before being appointed to the bench.

He is a member of the Kansas Bar Association and the Kansas District Judges Association, and serves as chair of the Supreme Court Client Protection Commission, and as co-chair of the Pro Se Litigation Section of the Kansas Bar Association.