Supreme Court to present Justice Award to John Peck 

TOPEKA—The Kansas Supreme Court will present a Justice Award to John Peck, Connell Teaching Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Kansas School of Law, for his significant contributions to the improvement of justice in Kansas over the course of his career. 

Award ceremony

The Supreme Court will meet in a special session to present the award to Peck at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, September 17, in the Supreme Court courtroom in the Kansas Judicial Center.  

A livestream of the special session will be available at www.youtube.com/KansasSupremeCourt/streams.

Choosing Peck for Justice Award 

Chief Justice Marla Luckert said Peck has had a lasting influence on water law education and water law itself.

“If you handle water law cases in Kansas, odds are you’ve sat in John Peck’s classroom, studied one of his many law journal articles, or both,” she said. 

Luckert said water’s vital role in Kansas makes understanding laws that govern it essential education for attorneys.

“Water affects every part of our lives and our economy, from individuals and communities to industry, utilities, recreation, and wildlife,” she said. “When there’s a dispute over water rights, Kansans need attorneys who understand the nuances of water law to represent them in court.”

Peck’s journey through water law

Peck grew up in Concordia, Kansas. After graduating from the University of Kansas School of Law in 1974, he entered private practice at Everett, Seaton & Peck, Attorneys at Law, Manhattan, Kansas. In 1978, a chance phone call changed his career path.

“The dean at KU Law, Martin Dickinson, asked me if I’d join the faculty,” Peck said. After talking it over with his wife, they decided he should interview.

Peck got the job and headed to KU to meet Dickinson. When Dickinson asked Peck what subjects he’d like to teach, Peck responded he’d prefer teaching classes in contracts, land transactions, and family law, areas he was familiar with through his private practice. Dickinson asked him to teach water law as well, and he agreed to teach that course.

Peck joined the KU Law faculty in fall 1978 and taught his first class on water law in spring 1979. He taught his final water law class 41 years later in 2019.

“It became my bread and butter,” he said. “I’ve trained other lawyers, written articles, and helped draft legislation, all in water law.”

Importance of water law

Peck also taught courses in contracts, family law, and land transactions, three subjects he said overlap with water law.

“Water rights are closely associated with property, so there can be water issues in land sales, family disputes over land, and even divorce and family law,” he said.

Peck also began consulting, which he said helped him with publishing law articles and teaching. His experience in the subject led to him to give talks on water law across Kansas and around the world, including in Japan, India, Turkey, Austria, and Canada.

He has also testified before the Kansas Legislature on water issues, co-authored a report on recommended revisions to the Kansas Water Transfer Act, wrote early versions of the Kansas Water Assurance Program Act, and drafted early revisions to the State Water Resources Planning Act.

He wrote the water law chapter for the first Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Law. The survey examines changes to areas of Kansas law over the previous year. Peck would end up writing that chapter for 30 years and he used those chapters as a resource.

About the Justice Award 

The Supreme Court presents the Justice Award to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to the improvement of justice in Kansas. As a recipient, Peck will receive a plaque and a $500 stipend, and his name will be added to the permanent list of recipients displayed outside the Supreme Court courtroom in the Judicial Center.

The award stipend comes from earnings on a $10,000 check awarded by the Foundation for the Improvement of Justice to the Supreme Court for its program to shorten the amount of time it takes to dispose of a case through Kansas courts. Kansas was the first state to establish specific time standards for each of five major case categories.

Any Kansan or Kansas organization is eligible to receive the Justice Award, except Supreme Court justices, their personal staff, and members of the Justice Award Nominating Committee.