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Voters urged to learn more about their judges before they vote Nov. 8

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Judicial Performance Review Committee today provided Missouri voters with their performance findings for 52 nonpartisan judges who will be up for retention in the Nov. 8, 2022, general election. All Missouri voters will have at least four appellate judges appear in retention elections on their ballot this November. 

“We want to make sure the people of Missouri have good judges who are fair, impartial, and skilled,” said Larry Tucker, chair of the statewide committee. “Our independent committee provides voters with extensive information about the performance of our judges up for retention to help them make informed decisions.”  

The committee reviewed the performance of 52 judges, including two Supreme Court of Missouri judges, 10 Court of Appeals judges, 20 circuit court judges, and 20 associate circuit court judges in circuits where the judges are appointed under the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan. The committee found all 54 judges substantially meet overall judicial performance standards.  

The complete performance review information of each judge is available at YourMissouriJudges.org. For quick reference, landing pages for voters by circuit are provided: 

The committee considers a variety of information about each judge, including lawyers’ ratings of the judges, jurors’ ratings of some trial judges, and written opinions from judges. The public can access these items at YourMissouriJudges.org

Jurors were asked a series of questions about the judge’s courtroom conduct. The lawyers’ survey focused on key traits that judges need to render justice effectively and fairly. Circuit and associate circuit judges were rated in areas including a wide range of observable skills and traits, such as treating people fairly, competency in the law, and writing clear opinions. Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges were rated on a different set of criteria as they decide cases that are appealed because of possible legal errors, either procedural or through misinterpretations of the law. These judges were rated on areas such as whether their opinions were clearly written, whether they adequately explained the basis of the court’s decision, and whether they issued opinions in a timely manner. For all judges, lawyers’ surveys were converted into a numerical score between one and five, with one being the poorest and five being the best. 

“These extensive reviews help Missouri voters determine whether or not the judges up for retention are meeting the expectations of the public and lawyers,” Tucker said.  

Tucker said the committee’s work is important because it helps ensure Missouri citizens have good judges who substantially meet overall judicial performance standards. He added that the performance reviews have had a positive impact on the number of people who vote in retention elections. 

“The committee’s work to educate voters about the performance of our judges has led to improved voter participation in judicial retention elections since 2008 because when voters feel more informed, they are more likely to vote,” Tucker said.  

Missouri uses a constitutional merit system known as the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan for its judicial selection. All judges are accountable to the voters, although their initial selection process may vary. Appellate judges and trial-level judges in the City of St. Louis and Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte, and St. Louis counties are first appointed to the judicial seat and then stand for retention before the voters after their first 12 months on the bench and the end of each term. In other parts of the state, trial-level judges seek election in partisan races. 

Before becoming a judge, all nonpartisan judges are screened by a nominating commission whose members include lawyers, non-lawyers, and a judge. The commission selects the three most qualified candidates and forwards their names to the governor, who chooses one candidate to fill the position. After their first year on the bench and again at the end of each term, nonpartisan judges must run in retention elections. In retention elections the ballot reads: “Shall Judge X be retained?” To be retained, each merit-selected judge must receive a simple majority. 

The Missouri Bar is tasked with sharing the independent committee’s findings with the public. The Missouri Bar funds the review process, which was created by a Supreme Court of Missouri rule in 2008. Tucker emphasized that the committee operates independently of the bar and judiciary. He added that Missouri’s performance review system was developed and is continually updated based on model rules and best practices from the American Bar Association and the more than 20 judicial performance review systems across the nation. 

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Missouri Judicial Performance Review findings available to the public at YourMissouriJudges.org

Citizens urged to learn more about their judges before they vote Nov. 6

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Missouri Judicial Performance Review Committee has provided Missouri voters with their performance findings for 59 nonpartisan judges who will be up for retention in the Nov. 6, 2018, general election. All Missouri voters will have at least three judges appear in retention elections on their ballot this November.

“We want to make sure the people of Missouri have good judges who are fair, impartial and skilled,” said Dale Doerhoff, chair of the statewide committee. “Our independent committee provides voters with extensive, objective information about the performance of our judges up for retention to help them make informed decisions about our judges.”

The committee reviewed the performance of 59 judges including two Supreme Court of Missouri judges, four Court of Appeals judges, 31 circuit court judges and 22 associate circuit court judges in circuits where the judges are appointed under the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan. Of the 59 judges, a majority of the committee voted one judge does not substantially meet overall judicial performance standards.

The complete performance review information of each judge is available online at YourMissouriJudges.org. For quick reference, landing pages for voters in nonpartisan circuits are provided:

Doerhoff said visitors to the website “will see the lawyer surveys, juror surveys of trial judges, and written opinions from the judges the committee used in casting their votes.”

Brochures with the findings will be available at libraries, courthouses and senior centers across the state. Missouri voters may also request one be mailed to them for free by calling 573-635-4128.

The committee considers a variety of information about each judge, including lawyers’ ratings of judges, jurors’ ratings of some trial judges and written opinions from judges.

Jurors were asked a series of 10 questions about the judge’s courtroom conduct. For instance: Did the judge clearly explain the legal issues of the case? Did the judge appear to be free from bias? Did the judge appear to be well-prepared for the case?

The lawyers’ survey focused on key traits that judges need to render justice effectively and fairly. Circuit and associate circuit judges were rated in 19 areas, including a wide range of observable skills and traits, such as treating people fairly, competency in the law and writing clear opinions.

Supreme Court and Court of Appeals judges were rated on a different set of criteria as they decide cases that are appealed because of possible legal errors, either procedural or through misinterpretations of the law. These judges were rated on areas such as whether their opinions were clearly written, whether they adequately explained the basis of the court’s decision and whether they issued opinions in a timely manner.

For all judges, lawyers’ surveys were converted into a numerical score between 1 and 5, with 1 being the poorest and 5 being the best.

“These extensive reviews help Missouri voters determine whether or not the judges up for retention are meeting the expectations of the public and lawyers,” said Doerhoff.

Doerhoff said the committee’s work is important because it helps make sure the people of Missouri have good judges who substantially meet overall judicial performance standards. He added that the performance reviews have had a positive impact on the number of people who vote in retention elections.

“The committee’s work to educate voters about the performance of our judges has led to increased voter participation in judicial retention elections since 2008 because when voters feel more informed, they are more likely to vote.”

Missouri uses a constitutional merit system known as the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan to select its appellate judges and trial-level judges in the City of St. Louis and Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte and St. Louis counties. In other parts of the state, trial-level judges seek election in partisan races.

Before becoming a judge, all nonpartisan judges are screened by a nominating commission whose members include lawyers, non-lawyers and a judge. The commission selects the three best candidates and forwards their names to the governor, who chooses one candidate to fill the position. After their first year on the bench and again at the end of each term, nonpartisan judges must run in retention elections. In retention elections the ballot reads: “Shall Judge X be retained?” To be retained, each merit-selected judge must receive a simple majority.

The Missouri Bar is tasked with sharing the independent committee’s findings with the public. The Missouri Bar funds the review process, which was created by a Supreme Court of Missouri rule in 2008 and updated in 2016. The Missouri performance review system was developed and is continually updated based on model rules and best practices from the American Bar Association and the more than 20 judicial performance review systems across the nation.

This article was originally posted on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on May 20, 2011. Click here to read the article. 

Steve Koslovsky recalled the lessons he learned in a foreign land as a high school student.

Patricia Hageman talked about the pain of losing a father.

Michael Burton explained that his wife’s community service helped guide him into volunteer work.

They were three of 20 applicants for an opening on the Eastern District bench of the Missouri Court of Appeals, and on Wednesday and Thursday in a third-floor downtown St. Louis courtroom, they answered questions about the law and about themselves before a panel that will help determine the next Missouri state appeals judge.

Click here to read the rest of the article

The following was posted on stltoday.com on November 27, 2010. Click here to read the full article.

JEFFERSON CITY • John Johnston, president of the Missouri Bar, sees a simple message in November’s elections.

The following was posted on stltoday.com on November 27, 2010. Click here to read the full article.

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