Former Kansas Supreme Court Justice Nancy Moritz has formally joined the federal appeals court that handles cases from six western and Plains states.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren administered the oath of office to Moritz on Wednesday in Topeka.

The Denver-based 10th Circuit Court of Appeals says in a news release that Moritz’s temporary chambers will be in Lawrence.

President Barack Obama nominated Moritz in August 2013. Her nomination was confirmed by the Senate in May.

Moritz will fill the vacancy created in 2011 when Judge Deanell Tacha, a Kansan, retired and became dean of the law school at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California.

Her departure gives conservative Republican Gov. Sam Brownback his first appointment to the state’s highest court.