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Judge W. Brent Powell, of Kansas City, will serve as the next judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri. A news release from the office of Gov. Greitens follows.

Governor Eric Greitens has appointed Judge W. Brent Powell, of Kansas City, to serve as the next judge on the Supreme Court of Missouri.

“The Missouri Supreme Court serves an essential role in maintaining our system of justice, upholding the rule of law, and protecting the Missouri Constitution,” said Governor Greitens. “Appointing a Missouri Supreme Court Judge is an important duty, and it is one I take seriously. I am pleased to name Judge Brent Powell to our state’s highest court.”

Judge Powell has been a Circuit Judge in Jackson County since 2008.  Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Powell served seven years as a federal prosecutor for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Missouri, and before that, as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Platte County Prosecutor’s Office.  As a federal prosecutor, Judge Powell was Chief of the General Crimes Unit and the Executive Assistant United States Attorney.  He tried more than forty jury trials before being named to the Jackson County Circuit Court by Governor Blunt.

Judge Powell’s docket on the trial bench includes hundreds of significant criminal and civil cases. He currently serves on the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Procedures in Criminal Cases, the Missouri Advisory Sentencing Commission, the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Access to Family Courts, and the Missouri Supreme Court Trial Judge Education Committee.  In addition to his service within the court system, Judge Powell regularly instructs lawyers as the Lead Master of the Ross T. Roberts Trial Academy of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.

Judge Powell received his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law and his undergraduate degree in political science from William Jewell College.

“In his years on the bench, Judge Brent Powell has established himself as an outstanding jurist,” Governor Greitens said.  “He has received high marks for being humble, fair-minded, and of the highest integrity. I am confident Judge Powell will be committed to strengthening and improving our court system and guarding the rule of law as a judge on our state’s highest court.”

Governor Greitens selected Judge Powell from a panel of three nominees put forward by the Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission. The position became vacant due to the death of the Honorable Richard Teitelman.

Patricia Breckenridge, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri and chair of the Appellate Judicial Commission, announced yesterday that a commission has submitted to Governor Eric Greitens its panel of nominees to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court of Missouri. This vacancy exists due to the November 2016 death of Judge Richard B. Teitelman.

The commission unanimously supports the three nominees. After approximately 10 hours of public interviews, more than 3.5 hours of deliberations and seven rounds of balloting, the nominees – each of whom received seven votes – are: Lisa White Hardwick, Benjamin A. Lipman and W. Brent Powell.

Hardwick is a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. She was born in 1960. She earned her bachelor of journalism in radio-television journalism in 1981 from the University of Missouri-Columbia and her law degree in 1985 from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Lipman is a member of Lewis Rice LLC in St. Louis. He was born in 1966. He earned his bachelor of arts in economics in 1988 from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and his law degree in 1991 from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.

Powell is a circuit judge in the 16th Judicial Circuit (Jackson County). He was born in 1970. He earned his bachelor of arts in political science in 1992 from William Jewell College in Liberty and his law degree in 1996 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

The governor has 60 days to select one member of the panel to fill the vacancy. Should he fail to do so, the Missouri Constitution directs the commission to make the appointment.

In addition to Breckenridge, the commission is composed of Michelle Beckler of Marshfield, Scott S. Bethune of Kansas City, Thomas M. Burke of St. Louis, Kathy Ritter of Columbia, Edward “Nick” Robinson of St. Louis and Donald E. Woody of Springfield.

Click here to see the official press release from the Supreme Court of Missouri.