WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is urging "humility and restraint" to ease tensions between the state's legislative and judicial branches. Schmidt made the plea Friday in a statement over two pending lawsuits filed against the state by district court judges. A state judge earlier this month struck down a 2014 law stripping the Kansas Supreme Court of its ability to appoint chief judges. The judge ruled the law violated the state constitution by infringing on the Supreme Court's power to administer the courts. That order is on hold while the state appeals. Legislators this year passed another law nullifying the judicial branch's entire budget if the policy change was struck down. Schmidt plans to ask the justices to remove themselves from the case because it directly involves their own power.
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