Senate Also Confirms State Librarian, Regents, KU Hospital Authority Board of Directors, and 8 Reappointments~~

TOPEKA – Governor Laura Kelly’s appointment of Judge Rachel L. Pickering of Topeka to serve on the Kansas Court of Appeals was unanimously confirmed yesterday by the Kansas Senate. The confirmation makes Judge Pickering the first Hispanic Kansan to sit on the Kansas Court of Appeals. 

“I am pleased the Kansas Senate confirmed Judge Pickering,” Governor Laura Kelly said. “Rachel is a committed public servant as an attorney and judge. Her experience in nearly every area of criminal litigation will provide her with great insight as she serves the Kansas Court of Appeals.” 

Prior to being confirmed, Judge Pickering served as District Judge in the Third Judicial District in Shawnee County. She has experience as a criminal defense attorney and prosecutor. She has also served as Appellate Defender, Public Defender, Assistant District Attorney, and Assistant Solicitor General. 

Pickering is active in the legal community locally and nationally. She is currently the District 10 Representative for the National Association of Women Judges and is involved with the American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section. She previously served as President of the Women’s Attorney’s Association of Topeka and recently completed a term as President of the Hon. Sam A. Crow American Inn of Court.  

Pickering has been an adjunct professor at Washburn University School of Law since 2018 and has coached the law school’s moot court teams. She has also taught various courses in continuing legal education to attorneys and judges about topics including appellate practice and criminal law.   

Pickering graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law in 2003, earning a certificate in e-commerce and intellectual property, and spent her third year of law school as a visiting student at the University of Kansas School of Law. She earned her B.A. in History from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1994. 

Also confirmed by the Kansas Senate were: 

• Ray Walling, State Librarian 
• Blake Benson, Pittsburg, Kansas Board of Regents 
• John B. Dicus, Topeka, Kansas Board of Regents 
• Diana Mendoza, Dodge City, Kansas Board of Regents 
• Anne St. Peter, KU Hospital Authority Board of Directors 

The following reappointments were also confirmed: 

• Erica Andrade, State Board of Indigent’s Defense Services 
• Dr. Michael Birzer, State Board of Indigent’s Defense Services 
• Patricia Hudgins, State Board of Indigent’s Defense Services 
• Pete Brungardt, State Lottery Commission 
• Dr. Talal Khan, KU Hospital Authority Board of Directors 
• Rick Wiley, Public Employee Relations Board 
• Steve Bowser, Pooled Money Investment Board 
• Harold Schorn, Kansas Human Rights Commission