The Kansas Supreme Court announced today it will conduct a special evening session at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, at Topeka High School as part of its ongoing outreach to familiarize Kansans with the high court, its work, and the overall role of the Kansas judiciary.

The court will be in session from 6:30 p.m. to about 8 p.m. in the auditorium of Topeka High School at 800 SW 10th Avenue in Topeka.

“The Supreme Court has conducted special sessions in communities all across Kansas, but this is our first evening session in Topeka,” said Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss. “We chose Topeka High School for its historical significance in our community, although we would be honored to visit any of the Topeka area high schools.”

The public is invited to attend the special session to observe the court as it hears oral arguments in cases to be announced prior to March. After the hearing concludes, the justices will greet the public in an informal reception in the school’s cafeteria.

“Community visits are a great way for the people of Kansas to get to know us — who we are and what we do — and to learn about the judiciary’s role in our society,” said Nuss. “We encourage anyone who’s ever been curious about Supreme Court proceedings to come. We provide live webcasts of all our courtroom sessions in the Kansas Judicial Center, but people tell us there’s nothing like seeing proceedings in The Supreme Court’s has conducted several special sessions outside its Topeka courtroom since 2011 and the sessions regularly draw crowds numbering in the hundreds.”

The court’s first evening session in Hays  in spring 2015 drew an estimated 700 people, and a crowd estimated to number 500 attended an evening session in Garden City in October 2015.   In 2011, the court marked the state sesquicentennial by convening in a special session in the historic Supreme Court courtroom in the Kansas Statehouse. From there, and through the end of 2011, the court conducted special sessions in Salina, Greensburg, and Wichita. The court held sessions in Overland Park in 2012, Pittsburg in 2013, Kansas City in 2014, Hays in April 2015, and Garden City in October 2015.