Curtis Brown named chief judge in 23rd Judicial District

TOPEKA—The Kansas Supreme Court has appointed Curtis Brown to serve as chief judge in the 23rd Judicial District from January 13 through December 31.
 
Brown was recently elected to a district judge position and will be sworn-in January 13. He will assume his duties as chief judge the same day.  
 
“We thank Judge-elect Brown for taking on the additional responsibilities serving as chief judge as soon as he’s sworn-in,” said Chief Justice Marla Luckert. “We look forward to working with him in this role.”
 
He will succeed Chief Judge Glenn Braun, who will retire January 12.
 
The 23rd Judicial District is composed of Ellis, Gove, Rooks, and Trego counties.
 
“I am very honored to be able to serve the 23rd Judicial District as chief judge,” he said. “I look forward to taking on the responsibility of the position and am excited to be able to work with the legal community in the district.”
 
Brown was born and raised in Norton. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska Kearney and his law degree from the University of Tulsa College of Law. After law school, he worked for Kansas Legal Services in Hays.
 
In 2012, Brown joined Glassman, Bird, Braun, and Schwartz, becoming a partner in 2015. In 2018, he started his own law practice, the Law Office of J. Curtis Brown, LLC. Starting in 2021, he served as attorney for Trego County and prosecutor for the city of WaKeeney.
 
He serves on the Northwest Kansas Community Corrections Board and the Northwest Kansas Juvenile Services Board. He served for five years as the Ellis County drug court’s defense attorney.
 
He is past president of the Ellis County Bar Association and a past member of the Kansas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees and Kansas Legal Services board of directors.
 
Chief judge role

Each of Kansas’ 31 judicial districts has a chief judge who, in addition to their judicial responsibilities, has general control over case assignments within the district, as well as general supervisory authority over the administrative and clerical functions of the court.