JUDGE'S CASE: A Leavenworth County judge's planned retirement has prompted a state panel to put a disciplinary case against him on hold.

An examiner for the state Commission on Judicial Qualifications has alleged that District Judge Frederick Stewart engaged in inappropriate conduct toward an administrative assistant from 1999 to 2007.

The examiner said the conduct included touching, sexual advances and requests for sexual favors. Stewart says the allegations are false and told the commission in a written response that they aren't corroborated by "any credible evidence.

Stewart announced earlier this month that he plans to retire Oct. 1. He's served as a judge since 1977, and his attorney has said he's been contemplating retirement for the past two years.

A hearing panel for the commission issued an order Friday putting the case on hold until Stewart seeks post-retirement judicial assignments. Retired judges sometimes hear cases to help courts with their workloads.

Panel Chairman Robert Fleming noted in the order that the Kansas Supreme Court has said judicial discipline is designed to protect the "honor and dignity" of the judiciary, "rather than the punishment of the individual."

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LIST SHRINKING: The list of Kansas school districts failing to show adequate academic progress this year is shorter than originally thought, the Department of Education said Friday.

One reason was a state computer software glitch.

The department now says that 25 of 296 school districts -- not 32 as initially reported -- failed to show enough improvement in students' scores on reading and math tests this spring.

The tests are mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind law, which requires all students to be proficient in reading and math.

Education officials saw the relatively low number as good news, especially because the requirements get more stringent with each passing year. The number of districts failing to hit the targets last year was 33.

Education department spokeswoman Karla Denny said Friday that software made a mistake for five small districts. The state's assessment of progress factors in high school graduation rates, and those districts improperly received zero scores because they don't have high schools.

She said the results for Fort Leavenworth, West Solomon Valley, Hanston, Copeland and Lewis school districts were adjusted. They dropped off the list.

Denny said three other districts -- Mission Valley, Osage City and Liberal -- signed off on their reports but shouldn't have, due to scoring errors. Mission Valley and Osage City dropped off the list, but Liberal remained on it.

The department also dropped two schools from its list of those that didn't show adequate progress, paring the number to 137 out of 1,365.

They were Prairie Elementary in Haysville and Appanoose Elementary in Pomona.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION: Attorney General Steve Six is promoting his efforts to beef up his office's consumer protection activities.

Six was in Hutchinson on Thursday to speak to a group of law enforcement officials at the Kansas State Fair.

"I feel it is our greatest focus," he said.

He has added a consumer training position to his office staff, he said, to work on consumer outreach full time.

The agency has also developed a "quick response team" to address complaints of financial abuse of the elderly, which Six called a growing problem.

He said the office also has developed training for bank personnel and law enforcement, as well as placards for bank tellers, with tips and signs to catch financial abuse.

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Associated Press Writer Dick Kelsey in Kansas City, Mo., also contributed to this report.