Missouri Bar hosts lively debate on choosing appellate judges

Critics and advocates of Missouri’s system of selecting appellate judges squared off in a panel discussion at the Missouri Bar’s annual meeting in Springfield on Sept. 27.

The Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan, which has been adopted by numerous other states, is used to pick judges for the State Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court. Five Circuit Courts also use the plan, but the 13th Circuit, which includes Boone County, has not adopted it.

Thursday’s panelists included Republican state Rep. Jim Lembke, Democratic state Sen. Jolie Justus and state Supreme Court Judge Michael A. Wolff.

Lembke, who has proposed revamping the selection plan, said Thursday that judges picked under the current process have gone too far with policy-changing rulings.

Wolff defended a particular ruling Lembke called “ridiculous,” saying in that case the court had to decide between two conflicting laws.

Republican Sen. Matt Bartle, another member of the panel, said he thinks a lack of understanding between policymakers and judges causes frustration between the groups.

Under the plan, three judges are recommended for the governor’s approval by a commission made of the state Supreme Court’s chief judge and an attorney and citizen member from each of Missouri’s appellate districts—eastern, western and southern. The attorneys are elected by bar members from their respective districts. Citizen members are appointed by the governor. The governor has the last say in filling vacancies on the bench by selecting a judge from among the three recommended by the appellate commission.

Supporters of the current plan say it decreases political influence because neither the voting public nor the state legislature has a role in the process. Detractors have suggested a system in which the governor nominates judges, who would be approved by the state legislature, or a system that uses a direct vote by Missouri citizens.