A Model for the Nation
Missouri’s method for selecting some circuit court judges and all appellate judges is known as the Missouri Non-partisan Court Plan and has been called A Model for the Nation. The evolution of this plan is an interesting history lesson.
Partisan Elections
In the first 30 years of Missouri's statehood, the governor appointed
the judges of the Supreme Court and circuit courts with the advice and
consent of the senate. After much public discussion, voters amended the
Missouri Constitution in 1850 to provide for the popular election of
judges. This system continues in effect for most Missouri courts today.
In most areas of Missouri, voters elect judges in partisan elections.
During the 1930s, the public became increasingly dissatisfied with the
increasing role of politics in judicial selection and judicial
decision-making. Judges were plagued by outside influences due to the
political aspects of the election process, and dockets were congested
due to time the judges spent campaigning.
Then, in November 1940, voters amended the Missouri Constitution by
adopting the "Non-partisan Selection of Judges Court Plan," which was
placed on the ballot by initiative petition. The adoption of the plan by
initiative referendum resulted from a public backlash against the
widespread abuses of the judicial system by the Pendergast political
machine in Kansas City and by the political control exhibited by ward
bosses in St. Louis.
The Non-partisan plan provides for the selection of judges based on
merit rather than on political affiliation. Initially, the Non-partisan
plan applied to judges of the Supreme Court; the court of appeals; the
circuit, criminal corrections and probate courts of St. Louis city; and
the circuit and probate courts of Jackson County. In 1970, voters
extended the Non-partisan plan to judges in St. Louis County, and three
years later, voters extended the Non-partisan plan to judges in Clay and
Platte counties. These changes are reflected in the Missouri
Constitution, as amended in 1976. The Kansas City Charter extends the
Non-partisan selection plan to Kansas City municipal court judges as
well. Under the constitution, other judicial circuits may adopt the plan
upon approval by a majority of voters in the circuit.
A Supreme Court judge must be at least 30 years of age, licensed to
practice law in Missouri, a United States citizen for at least 15 years,
and a qualified voter of the state for nine years preceding selection.
Judges may serve until the age of 70.
Operation of the
Plan
Under the Missouri Non-partisan court plan, a Non-partisan judicial
commission reviews applications, interviews candidates and selects a
judicial panel. For the Supreme Court and court of appeals, the
appellate judicial commission is composed of the chief justice of the
Supreme Court, three lawyers elected by The Missouri Bar (the
organization of all lawyers licensed in this state) and three citizens
selected by the governor. Each of the circuit courts in Clay, Jackson,
Platte and St. Louis counties and St. Louis city has its own circuit
judicial commission. These commissions are composed of the chief judge
of the court of appeals district in which the circuit is located, plus
two lawyers elected by the bar and two citizens selected by the
governor. All of the lawyers and citizens must live within the circuit
for which they serve the judicial commission.
Once the judicial commission meets, it selects a panel of the three most
qualified applicants and submits that three-person panel to the
governor. The governor has 60 days in which to appoint one of these
three panelists to fill the vacancy. If the governor does not select one
of these three panelists within the 60-day timeline, then the selection
of the new judge goes back to the judicial commission.
The Non-partisan plan also gives the voters a chance to have a say in
the retention of judges selected under the plan. Once a judge has served
in office for at least one year, that judge must stand for a retention
election at the next general election. The judge's name is placed on a
separate judicial ballot, without political party designation, and
voters decide whether to retain the judge based on his or her judicial
record. To inform voters about the performance of Non-partisan judges,
lawyers participate in a judicial evaluation survey in which they rate
those judges about whom they have personal and direct knowledge. They
evaluate judges on important characteristics such as fairness, legal
analysis skills, diligence and decisiveness. The results of this
judicial evaluation survey then are distributed to the public via the
media and the League of Women Voters.
How effective has the non-partisan plan been in preserving
judicial independence?
Since adoption of the Missouri Non-partisan court plan in 1940, no appellate judge has been voted out of office, and only two circuit judges have been voted out of office. Judge Marion D. Waltner of Jackson County was voted out in 1942. The other, Judge John R. Hutcherson of Clay County, was voted out in 1992 after receiving failing reviews from lawyers in the judicial evaluation survey. Thus, judges being voted out of office for a way he/she decided a case has been practically non-existent.