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    The Missouri election ballot is a retention vote for local and state judges
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    The Missouri election ballot is a retention vote for local and state judges

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    4 minutes, 39 seconds Read

    While it may be less contentious than other races on the ballot, voters in the Ozarks region will cast their ballots on local and state judges in the Nov. 5 general election. In most areas of Missouri, judges run under a party label, but that is not the case in Greene County.

    The bipartisan court plan governs the selection and retention of judges on the Missouri Supreme Court, the Missouri Court of Appeals and six district courts, mostly in the state's urban areas, including Greene County. Under this plan, district court judges will be selected by a five-member panel of attorneys, lay judges appointed by the governor and the chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Southern District. The commission reviews applications, conducts interviews and selects a group of three candidates to present to the governor, who then chooses whom to appoint.

    After their first year on the bench, these justices are up for a retention vote and then again at the end of each term. The term of office of district judges is six years. The past two years have seen unprecedented turnover in Greene County Circuit Court, as all six district judges, most of whom have served on the bench since the early 2000s, announced their retirement, whether through retirement, in 2022 or otherwise the first to be appointed entirely under the nonpartisan court plan. The Greene County Circuit Court recently hired a new judge for the Seventh District.

    Because of this high turnover, six of Greene County's seven circuit judges are on the November ballot for a retention vote. Additionally, four deputy district judges, two appellate judges and two Supreme Court justices are also on the ballot for retention in Greene County. Judges need a simple majority of votes to remain in office.

    How can you find out more about judges?

    Every election, yourmissourijudges.org, created by the Missouri Bar Association, collects and publishes information from the Judicial Performance Review Committee. All judges scheduled to vote on retention next week were found to be substantially meeting general judicial performance standards.

    The website contains background information, written statements from judges about their cases, a survey of attorneys and, for some trial judges, a survey of jurors. The Lawyer Survey asks lawyers to rate each judge on a scale of 1 to 5, from never to every time, using various prompts. Topics include, but are not limited to, judge preparation, impartiality, professionalism, judicial procedures, and prosecution of evidence.

    All but one of the local and associate district judges scored an average of at least 4 out of 5 on every bar survey prompt. The appeals court and Supreme Court justices who voted to remain in office in Greene County did not fall below the average of 3.5 points in any category.

    One Greene County judge stands out

    Greene County Circuit Judge Derek Ankrom is the only person who received averages below 3 on several survey questions. Of the 32 attorneys who completed the assessment, 7 responded “never” (1) and 11 responded “rarely” (2) to the question “The judge spoke to individuals (e.g., attorneys, court staff, litigants, witnesses, and the public) respectfully.” in the courtroom. The survey also found poor results for Ankrom, who conducted the proceedings impartially, maintained a professional demeanor in the courtroom, helped the parties narrow key issues, considered both sides' arguments before making a decision, and based his decisions logically on the evidence presented.

    Ankrom received an average rating above 4 points in only two of the 19 prompts – for its preparation and timely initiation of the process. In his first year as a judge, he presided over two cases that received significant public attention: the University Heights property restrictions lawsuit and the Kylan Mabins football admissions case.

    By comparison, former Greene County District Judge Calvin Holden, who has been repeatedly publicly criticized for his lenient sentences, received higher ratings than Ankrom in the Bar Survey in his most recent review in 2018. Holden had several more cases under its belt (meaning a larger pool of attorneys responded to the survey – 43 to Ankrom's 32), and the survey was then rated on a scale from “strongly agree” to “strongly agree.” not to” instead of the frequency used now.

    Check out our Missouri voter guide: Your guide to the 2024 election

    What is the probability of not being accepted?

    Because the election is about retention without partisan nominations rather than a fight between candidates, the chances of a justice being removed are slim.

    In 2018, Holden still received 73% of the votes to be retained. It is typical for Greene County and associated circuit judges to remain in office with more than 70% of the vote, according to previous voting results. For other circuits under the nonpartisan courts plan, these margins of votes are smaller, although in most cases not by much – over 60% of the vote.

    The last time a judge was removed by voters was in 2018, when St. Louis County Associate District Judge Judy Preddy Draper did not receive enough votes to remain in office. Before the election, 65% of the Judicial Review Committee believed she substantially met general performance standards. Larry Tucker, chairman of the Judicial Performance Review Committee, confirmed that Draper was the fourth judge fired by voters since the plan was adopted in 1940. Greene County voted to adopt the court plan in 2008.

    While the review committee has in the past provided a breakdown of the number of committee members who voted for a judge to meet standards and the number who did not, Tucker said information is no longer released.

    Marta Mieze reports on local government for the News-Leader. Do you have any feedback, tips or story ideas? Contact her at [email protected].

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