Missouri judicial elections
Judges in Missouri participate in retention elections following a assisted appointment method of judicial selection or partisan elections. Elections take place in even-numbered years.[1][2]
Missouri is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.
| Supreme Court | Court of Appeals | Circuit Court |
|---|---|---|
| Retention elections - 12 year terms | Retention elections - 12 year terms | Partisan elections or Retention elections - Six-year terms
(Four-year terms for associate judges) |
Elections
- Missouri Supreme Court elections, 2024
- Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2024
- Missouri Supreme Court elections, 2022
- Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2022
- Missouri Supreme Court elections, 2020
- Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2020
- Missouri Supreme Court elections, 2018
- Missouri intermediate appellate court elections, 2018
- Missouri local trial court judicial elections, 2018
- Missouri judicial elections, 2016
- Missouri judicial elections, 2014
- Missouri judicial elections, 2012
- Missouri judicial elections, 2010
Election rules
Partisan election
Trial judges who were elected in partisan elections may seek re-election at the end of their terms. They must run as a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. Partisan elections decide the majority of Missouri's judges. Judges first run in a party primary in August, with the winner of each primary moving on to the general election.[1][2][3]
Candidates who run unopposed are not printed on the official ballot.[4]
Retention election
Judges on the supreme court and appellate courts are subject to the nonpartisan court plan and run for retention. Trial judges in five counties also run for retention in accordance with this plan. Those counties are St. Louis, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Greene.[1]
Judges under the nonpartisan court plan must participate in retention elections after holding office for at least one year. Judges up for retention appear on a separate ballot. Voters must indicate whether to retain or remove a judge. Judges who receive a majority of votes in favor of retention are retained for a full term.[5]
There are no term limits for the supreme court, other appeals courts, or circuit courts, but there is an age limit of 70.[1]
Time of elections
- The primary election occurs on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August of even-numbered years.
- The general election occurs on first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of even-numbered years.[6]
Judicial performance evaluations
Judges subject to the nonpartisan court plan undergo a judicial performance review. The Missouri Bar conducts these evaluations through two committees, one for appellate judges (including supreme court judges) and one for circuit judges. The Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee consists of two members of the bar from each court of appeals district, and two non-members from each district. Similarly, the Circuit Judicial Evaluation Committee consists of six members of the bar from each circuit and six non-members. These members serve six-year terms.[7]
The committee reviews surveys of Missouri lawyers, in which lawyers are asked to evaluate judges based on a number of criteria. The committees make a recommendation as to whether or not a judge should be retained. Judges may appeal the findings of the committees.[7][8]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Your Missouri Courts, "Meet your Missouri judges," accessed April 26, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Missouri General Assembly, "Section 115.121," August 28, 2013
- ↑ Show-Me Courts, "Types of elections in Missouri," accessed April 26, 2014
- ↑ Greene County, "County clerk: Candidates & ballot issues," accessed May 15, 2014
- ↑ Your Missouri Courts, "Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Missouri General Assembly, "Missouri Revised Statutes, Section 115.121," accessed August 1, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Show-Me Courts, "Judicial performance review process," accessed April 26, 2014
- ↑ Show-Me Courts, "Judicial performance review criteria," April 26, 2014
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Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Missouri, Western District of Missouri
State courts:
Missouri Supreme Court • Missouri Court of Appeals • Missouri Circuit Courts • Missouri Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Missouri • Missouri judicial elections • Judicial selection in Missouri