The governor of Kansas is the

head of state A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "

he head of state He or HE may refer to: Language * He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads * He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English * He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana) * Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...

being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

KS Const. art. I, § 3. and the commander-in-chief of the state's

military forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state sen ...

, to convene the legislature at any time, and to grant

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

s. Since becoming a state, Kansas has had 48 governors. The state's longest-serving governors were Robert Docking, John W. Carlin, and

Bill Graves William Preston Graves (born January 9, 1953) is an American former politician who was the 43rd governor of Kansas from 1995 until 2003. Career Graves was born in Salina, Kansas, to parents who owned a trucking firm. After graduating from Ka ...

, each of whom served 8 years (Docking served four two-year terms; Carlin and Graves each served 2 4-year terms). The shortest-serving governor was John McCuish, who served only 11 days after the resignation of

Fred Hall Frederick Lee Hall (July 24, 1916 – March 18, 1970) was an American lawyer, judge, and politician who served as the 31st lieutenant governor of Kansas from 1951 to 1955 and 33rd governor of Kansas from 1955 until 1957 and a justice of the Kans ...

. The current governor is

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Laura Kelly Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,'' Kansas H ...

, who took office on January 14, 2019.

List of governors

Kansas Territory

Kansas Territory The Territory of Kansas was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until January 29, 1861, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the United States, Union as the Slave and ...

was organized on May 30, 1854, from land that had previously been part of

Missouri Territory The Territory of Missouri was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from June 4, 1812, until August 10, 1821. In 1819, the Territory of Arkansas was created from a portion of its southern area. In 1821, a southe ...

. Despite existing only for six years, it had six governors appointed by the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

State of Kansas

The eastern bulk of Kansas Territory was

admitted to the Union Admission to the Union is provided by the Admissions Clause of the United States Constitution in Article IV, Section 3, Clause 1, which authorizes the United States Congress to admit new states into the Union beyond the thirteen states that a ...

as Kansas on January 29, 1861. The

Kansas Constitution The Wyandotte Constitution is the constitution of the U.S. state of Kansas. Amended many times (including a universal suffrage amendment in 1912), the Wyandotte Constitution is still the constitution of Kansas. Background The Kansas Territory wa ...

provided that a governor and

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

be elected every 2 years, for a term commencing on the second Monday in the January after the election. An amendment in 1972 increased terms to four years, with a limit that a governor could not serve more than two terms in a row, and provided that the governor and lieutenant governor are elected on the same

ticket Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a to ...

. In the original constitution, should the office of governor be vacant, the powers would devolve upon the lieutenant governor, who nonetheless would remain in that office; the 1972 amendment changed it so that, in such an event, the lieutenant governor becomes governor. Until 2018, there was no age or residency requirement to run for the office; in 2017, three teenagers were doing so. In 2018, a law was passed establishing the age to run for governor and lieutenant governor at 25.

Notes

References

;General * * * * * * * * * ;Constitutions
Constitution of the State of Kansas
(1859), as amended. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
Constitution of the State of Kansas
(1859), original. Retrieved February 28, 2023. ;Specific

External links

Office of the Governor of Kansas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas, List Of Governors Of Lists of state governors of the United States * Government of Kansas

Governors A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...