Missouri Court of Appeals

 

Missouri Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	32
Salary:	Associates: $188,267[1]
Judicial selection
Method:	Assisted appointment
Term:	12 years

The Missouri Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court for the state of Missouri. The court of appeals handles appeals from the circuit courts. In Missouri, the appellate court system is divided into three districts: eastern, western and southern.^[2]

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the state's largest appellate court, with offices located in the historic Old Post Office building in downtown St. Louis. The court is composed of 14 judges who handle approximately 50 percent of the intermediate appellate caseload in Missouri, covering 25 counties and the city of St. Louis. Oral arguments are regularly conducted in St. Louis, Clayton, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations within the Eastern District.^[3]

Based on the number of counties in its jurisdiction (45), the Western District is the state's largest intermediate appellate court, and is located in its own courthouse in downtown Kansas City. The court is composed of 11 judges and handles almost 40 percent of the appellate caseload in Missouri. Oral arguments are normally conducted in Kansas City but are also conducted in Jefferson City, Colombia, St. Joseph, Kirksville, and other Western District locations.^[4]

The Southern District has offices in Springfield, Mo., and maintains a courthouse and chambers in Poplar Bluff. Oral arguments are regularly conducted in both locations. The court is composed of seven judges, and its jurisdiction covers 44 counties in southern Missouri.^[5]

The court of appeals handles all appeals except those in the supreme court's exclusive jurisdiction: challenges to the validity of a United States statute or treaty, the validity of a state constitutional provision or statute, cases requiring construction of revenue laws, the title to state office and cases where the death penalty is imposed.

Court of appeals cases may be appealed to the supreme court. However, historically, the supreme court hears less than 10 percent of appeals. Thus, for the vast majority of appeals, the court of appeals decision is final.^[6]

Procedure

In an appeal, the court receives a record of what occurred in the circuit court. Typically, each side files a publicly available brief featuring arguments and the basis for them, such as past court decisions and laws. Each side is allowed to present an oral argument and answer questions from the judges. After the arguments, the judges determine whether the trial court made any prejudicial mistakes. In researching and deciding opinions, the court considers the briefs and oral arguments, as well as the transcripts, pleadings and exhibits from the trial.^[6]

• Published opinions of the Missouri Court of Appeals can be found here.

Judges

Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Rebeca McKelvey	March 18, 2024 - Present	Mike Parson
Michael S. Wright	September 22, 2023 - Present	Mike Parson
Angela T. Quigless	April 12, 2012 - Present	Jay Nixon
James M. Dowd	June 3, 2015 - Present	Jay Nixon
Gary Gaertner Jr.	March 11, 2010 - Present	Jay Nixon
Lisa P. Page	2015 - Present	Jay Nixon
Thomas C. Clark II	February 26, 2021 - Present	Mike Parson
Michael Gardner	2020 - Present	Mike Parson
John Torbitzky	September 9, 2021 - Present	Mike Parson
Robert M. Clayton III	July 18, 2011 - Present	Jay Nixon
Philip M. Hess	November 21, 2013 - Present	Jay Nixon
Renee Hardin-Tammons	October 14, 2022 - Present	Mike Parson
Virginia W. Lay	November 26, 2024 - Present	Mike Parson
Cristian M. Stevens	November 15, 2021 - Present	Mike Parson

Missouri Court of Appeals Western District

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Karen Mitchell	2009 - Present	Jay Nixon
Cynthia Lynette Martin	2009 - Present	Jay Nixon
Janet Lee Sutton	December 10, 2021 - Present	Mike Parson
Edward Ardini	2016 - Present	Jay Nixon
Anthony Rex Gabbert	April 3, 2013 - Present	Jay Nixon
Gary D. Witt	2010 - Present	Jay Nixon
Mark D. Pfeiffer	2009 - Present	Jay Nixon
Thomas N. Chapman	2018 - Present	Mike Parson
Doug Thomson	March 28, 2020 - Present	Mike Parson
Lisa White Hardwick	May 2, 2001 - Present	Bob Holden
Alok Ahuja	2007 - Present	Matt Blunt

Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District

Judge	Tenure	Appointed By
Mary W. Sheffield	December 3, 2012 - Present	Jay Nixon
Jeffrey W. Bates	November 14, 2003 - Present	Bob Holden
Don Burrell	January 13, 2008 - Present	Matt Blunt
Jennifer Growcock	December 3, 2021 - Present	Mike Parson
Jack Goodman	December 31, 2020 - Present	Mike Parson
Matt Hamner	April 1, 2024 - Present	Mike Parson
Becky Borthwick	September 9, 2022 - Present	Mike Parson

Former judges

• Clifford Ahrens
• Robert Barney
• Kathianne Knaup Crane
• Robert Dowd
• William W. Francis, Jr.
• Ginger Gooch
• Mary Kathryn Hoff
• Gary W. Lynch
• Lawrence Mooney
• Thomas Newton
• Kurt Odenwald
• Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer
• Roy Richter
• Kenneth Romines
• Daniel Scott
• James Smart
• Sherri Sullivan ^{[7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Missouri

The judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals are chosen through assisted appointment in which the governor selects a nominee from a list provided by a nominating commission. When a vacancy occurs, a list of potential candidates is compiled by the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission and narrowed to three choices. From those three candidates, the governor appoints a new judge. After the newly appointed judge serves for at least one year, they must stand for retention in the next general election. If retained, they serve twelve-year terms.^[14]

Qualifications

To serve on the appeals court, a judge must be:

• a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years;
• a district resident;
• a qualified state voter for at least nine years;
• licensed to practice law in the state;
• over the age of 30; and
• under the age of 70 (retirement at 70 is mandatory).^[14]

Chief judge

The chief judge of each appeals court district serves a one-year term and is elected by a peer vote.^[14]

Vacancies

When a vacancy occurs, a list of potential candidates is compiled by the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission and narrowed to three choices. From those three candidates, the governor appoints a new judge. After the newly appointed judge serves for at least one year, they must stand for retention in the next general election. If retained, they serve twelve-year terms.^[14]

Salary

In 2024, the associate judges of the court received a salary of $188,267, according to the National Center for State Courts.^[15]

Elections

2024

See also: Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2024

The terms of 10 Missouri intermediate appellate court judges expired on December 31, 2024. The 10 seats were up for retention election on November 5, 2024. The filing deadline was August 27, 2024.

Candidates and results

Eastern District

Wright's seat

Gaertner seat

Clayton's seat

Hardin-Tammons' seat

Stevens' seat

Southern District

Borthwick's seat

Growcock's seat

Western District

Witt's seat

Martin's seat

Sutton's seat

2022

See also: Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2022

The terms of 12 Missouri intermediate appellate court judges expired on December 31, 2022. The 12 seats were up for retention election on November 8, 2022.

Candidates and results

Goodman's seat

Gardner's seat

Pfeiffer's seat

Broniec's seat

Thomson's seat

Burrell's seat

Mitchell's seat

Clark's seat

Ahuja's seat

Torbitzky's seat

Judges not on the ballot

• Cristian M. Stevens

2020

See also: Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2020

The terms of seven Missouri Court of Appeals justices expired on December 31, 2020. The seven seats were up for retention election on November 3, 2020. A full term on the court is 12 years.

Candidates and results

Western District

Chapman's seat

General election candidates

• Thomas N. Chapman  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Southern District

Lynch's seat

General election candidates

• Gary W. Lynch  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Eastern District

Odenwald's seat

General election candidates

• Kurt S. Odenwald  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Ransom's seat

General election candidates

• Robin Ransom  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

2018

See also: Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2018

Candidates and results

Southern District

Bates' seat

General election candidates

• Jeffrey W. Bates  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Eastern District

Dolan's seat

General election candidates

• Colleen Dolan  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Page's seat

General election candidates

• Lisa P. Page  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

Western District

Ardini's seat

General election candidates

• Edward Ardini  (Incumbent) (Nonpartisan) ✔

2016

Judges who faced retention

■ Philip M. Hess
■ James M. Dowd

Election results

Philip M. Hess was retained in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Hess' Seat election with 60.52% of the vote.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Hess' Seat, 2016
Name	Yes votes
Philip M. Hess	60.52%
Source: Missouri Secretary of State Official Results

James M. Dowd was retained in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Dowd's Seat election with 61.49% of the vote.

Missouri Court of Appeals, Dowd's Seat, 2016
Name	Yes votes
James M. Dowd	61.49%
Source: Missouri Secretary of State Official Results

2014

Retention

Judge	Election Vote
Mary Sheffield (Missouri)	69.2%
Lisa Van Amburg	67.3%
Angela T. Quigless	61.1%
Anthony Rex Gabbert	65.1%
Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer	68.2%
Lisa White Hardwick	66.8%

2012

Candidate	Incumbency	Division	Primary Vote	Election Vote
Cynthia Lynette Martin	Yes	Western District
Gary Gaertner Jr.	Yes	Eastern District
Gary Witt	Yes	Western District
Lawrence Mooney	Yes	Eastern District
Robert M. Clayton, III	Yes	Eastern District
Sherri Sullivan	Yes	Eastern District
Thomas Newton	Yes	Western District
William W. Francis, Jr.	Yes	Southern District

Ethics

The Missouri Code of Judicial Conduct sets forth ethical guidelines and principles for the conduct of judges and judicial candidates in Missouri. It is composed of four canons:

• Canon 1: "A Judge Shall Uphold and Promote the Independence, Integrity and Impartiality of the Judiciary and Avoid Impropriety and Appearance of Impropriety"
• Canon 2: "A Judge Shall Perform the Duties of Judicial Office Impartially, Competently and Diligently"
• Canon 3: "A Judge Shall So Conduct the Judge's Extrajudicial Activities as to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with Judicial Obligations"
• Canon 4: "A Judge or Judicial Candidate Shall not Engage in Political or Campaign Activity Inconsistent with the Independence, Integrity or Impartiality of the Judiciary"^[16]

The full text of the Missouri Code of Judicial Conduct can be found here.

Removal of judges

Judges in Missouri may be removed in one of two ways:

• Retirement or removal by the supreme court, on the recommendation of the commission on retirement, removal and discipline
• Impeachment by the house of representatives; impeachments are tried by the supreme court, and five-sevenths of the court must concur in order to convict^[17]

State profile

Demographic data for Missouri
	Missouri	U.S.
Total population:	6,076,204	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	68,742	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	82.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	11.5%	12.6%
Asian:	1.8%	5.1%
Native American:	0.4%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	2.4%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	3.9%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	88.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	27.1%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$48,173	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	18.2%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Missouri. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Presidential voting pattern

See also: Presidential voting trends in Missouri

Missouri voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.

More Missouri coverage on Ballotpedia

• Elections in Missouri
• United States congressional delegations from Missouri
• Public policy in Missouri
• Endorsers in Missouri
• Missouri fact checks
• More...

See also

Missouri	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in Missouri Missouri Court of Appeals Missouri Supreme Court	Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 Gubernatorial appointments Judicial selection in Missouri	Federal courts State courts Local courts

External links

• Your Missouri Courts, "Judges of the Missouri Eastern Appellate District"
• Your Missouri Courts, "Judges of the Missouri Southern Appellate District"
• Your Missouri Courts, "Judges of the Missouri Western Appellate District"

Footnotes