TOPEKA – The Supreme Court will undertake a historic road trip September 28-29th, when it hears oral arguments at special sessions to be conducted in Greensburg and Wichita, Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss announced Wednesday.

“The Supreme Court traditionally sits in Topeka, but in 2011 initiated a limited travel schedule. These sessions represent the Supreme Court’s desire to enhance our judicial outreach program so that citizens across the state may learn first-hand how their highest appellate Court works for all our citizens, regardless of geographical locale,” Chief Justice Nuss said.

The Court first will sit in Greensburg at the Kiowa County Courthouse beginning at 9 a.m. September 28 to hear appeals in five matters on the Court’s dockets, including two criminal and three civil case appeals. The next day, the Court will convene at 9 a.m. in the City Hall Council Chamber in Wichita to hear arguments in three civil and one criminal appeal.

While in Greensburg, the Court will be guided on a tour of the rebuilding effort that has been underway there since a devastating tornado struck that town in May 2007. In another nod to the success of the town’s reconstruction, Greensburg Mayor Robert Dixson has been designated to serve as court bailiff for the justices when court convenes that morning.

The session in Wichita will be followed by another first, when all seven justices appear at the Wichita Bar Association to present a Continuing Legal Education session for attorneys. That session has been designed as a roundtable discussion of oral argument best practices.

“The Court wants to reach out to citizens throughout the state so they can better understand the court and how the justice system works at the appellate level in Kansas,” Chief Justice Nuss said in announcing the Court’s plans.

Both sessions are open to the public, but also will be streamed to the Internet via the Kansas Judicial Branch website, www.kscourts.org. The chief justice also has invited area high schools, colleges, and universities to bring students to the arguments.