TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas' new chief justice plans to push for changes aimed at helping veterans and the mentally ill, and expects to press for a big budget increase from a Republican-controlled Legislature that's likely to remain sharply critical of the state Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Marla Luckert became the Kansas court system's top official — and the second woman to hold the job — upon former Chief Justice Lawton Nuss' retirement last week. Her promotion came a day after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly made her first appointment to the seven-member court, and Kelly is set to make another b...