Missouri Supreme Court

• Missouri Supreme Court
• Elections

Missouri Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	7
Founded:	1820
Location:	Jefferson City, Missouri
Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	12 years
Active justices
Laura Denvir Stith  •  Patricia Breckenridge  •  Richard Teitelman  •  Mary Rhodes Russell  •  Zel Fischer  •  George Draper  •  Paul C. Wilson  •
Former justices

The Supreme Court of Missouri is the highest court in the state of Missouri. It was established in 1820, and is located in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Justices

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Judge Laura Denvir Stith	2001-2014
Judge Patricia Breckenridge	2007-2020	Matt Blunt
Chief Justice Richard Teitelman	2008-2016	Bob Holden
Judge Mary Rhodes Russell	2004-2018	Bob Holden
Judge Zel Fischer	2008-2022	Matt Blunt
Judge George Draper	2011-2024	Jay Nixon
Judge Paul C. Wilson	2012-2014	Gov. Jay Nixon

Chief justice

The judges rotate the two-year term of Chief Justice among themselves based on seniority. The state constitution requires that the Chief Justice presides over the court and is the "chief administrative officer of the state judicial system." Richard Teitelman is the current Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court.

Jurisdiction

Missouri voters have approved changes in the state's constitution to give the Supreme Court exclusive jurisdiction - the sole legal power - to hear five types of cases on appeal. Pursuant to Article V, Section 3 of the Missouri Constitution, these cases involve:

• The validity of a United States statute or treaty.
• The validity of a Missouri statute or constitutional provision.
• The state's revenue laws.
• Challenges to a statewide elected official's right to hold office.
• Imposition of the death penalty.

Unless their case involves one of those five issues, people who want a trial court's decision reviewed must appeal to the Missouri Court of Appeals. Most of these cases involve routine legal questions and end there. The Court of Appeals is divided geographically into the Eastern District, Western District and Southern District.

Certain cases, however, can be transferred to the Supreme Court - at the Court's discretion - if it determines that a question of general interest or importance is involved, that the laws should be re-examined, or that the lower court's decision conflicts with an earlier appellate decision. This is similar to the process the United States Supreme Court uses in accepting cases.

Judicial selection

The Missouri Appellate Judicial Commission selects justices of the court according to the Missouri Plan. The Commission submits three names to the Governor to determine the replacement. If the Governor neglects this duty, the responsibility goes to the Commission. After one year of serving on the court, the justice must go to general election to retain his seat. Terms are for 12 years. As of the elections of 2008, no appellate judge in Missouri has lost a retention election. Two appointments were made to court in 2008: Zel Fischer and Patricia Breckenridge.

Qualifications

According to Article V, Section 21 of the state constitution, to be considered a qualified candidate for the Supreme Court, one must be at least 30 years of age, licensed to practice law in the state, a U.S. citizen for at least 15 years, and be a qualified voter of the state for at least nine years prior to the person's candidacy. Additionally, candidates must be younger than 70 years of age, as there is mandatory retirement at that time.

Removal of justices

A judge can be removed on the recommendation of the Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline, or may be impeached by the house of representatives, which then goes to the Supreme Court. Convictions require the approval of five sevenths of the court or commission.

Caseloads

Fiscal Year	Filings	Dispositions
2012	96	77
2011	73	62
2010	67	65
2009	63	80
2008	72	57
2007	86	90

Salaries

The Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court earns $139,534 annually, while associate justices earn $137,034, as of January 2010.

Notable decisions

History of the court

Notable firsts

See also

• Missouri judicial news
• Judicial selection in Missouri
• Missouri blogs

External links

• Missouri Supreme Court Official Site
• Associated Press, "Mo. Supreme Court considers whether new congressional districts meet compactness requirement," February 16, 2012
• Missourinet, "State supreme court weighs dispute between public defenders, judges ", December 15, 2011
• Chief justice proposes more openness in judge selections
• Show Me Better Judges
• Columbia Daily Tribune, "State Archives to post Supreme Court cases", March 7, 2011
• Daily Reporter, "Appellate Judicial Commission taking applications to fill vacancy on Mo. Supreme Court", June 7, 2011
• St. Louis Business Journal, "13 apply to succeed Judge Wolff on Missouri Supreme Court", July 18, 2011

References

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

2012

See also: Missouri judicial elections, 2012

George Draper was retained by the voters.

Missouri Supreme Court 2012 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
George Draper		1,616,458	69.9%

2010

See also: 2010 State Supreme Court elections

Zel Fischer was retained by the voters.

Missouri Supreme Court 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Zel Fischer		n/a	66.4%

2008

See also: State Supreme Court elections, 2008

Patricia Breckenridge was retained by the voters.

Missouri Supreme Court 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Patricia Breckenridge		n/a	73%

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