Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Jason Nichols, 33, forced his way into the Garden City home of Finney County Chief Judge Wendel Wurst on May 31. Schmidt said Nichols held the judge hostage at gunpoint, for several hours, while making demands of the state.

 

Other charges against Nichols include kidnapping, aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, criminal threat and criminal restraint.

 

Nichols is being held in the Finney County jail on a $1.3 million bond.

 

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Police in western Kansas say a gunman who held Finney County’s chief judge hostage over a child custody matter eventually surrendered and released the victim without harm.

Authorities say the standoff began about 7 a.m. Tuesday, when the suspect forced his way into 61-year-old Wendel Wurst’s home in Garden City and confronted the man and his wife at gunpoint.

The gunman released the woman a short time later, and she called police from a neighbor’s home.

The standoff ended peacefully several hours later.

Police say the suspect was upset over a custody case Wurst handled.

There was no immediate word about any charges resulting from the captivity.

Wurst was appointed a district judge in 2004 by then-Gov. Mark Parkinson.