Three trial judges are among the nominees that the Appellate Judicial Commission submitted to Gov. Mike Parson to fill a vacancy in the Southern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals.
“We had a fairly small group of applicants this time,” said Judge Dan Scott who retired from the bench in December 2020. “We had seven and whichever one gets picked will be able to bring a perspective of a trial judge to the court, which is a valuable perspective to have because you are reviewing the actions of trial judges. When you are an appellate judge, you are deciding if the trial court erred in a certain ruling or in admitting certain evidence or in doing something wrong, and it's helpful to have been a trial judge yourself.”
Nominees include Jennifer R. Growcock, a circuit judge in the 38th Judicial Circuit in Ozark County; Joseph L. Hensley, an associate circuit judge and the presiding juvenile judge in Jasper County in the 29th Judicial Circuit and Laura J. Johnson, the presiding judge of the 38th Judicial Circuit in Christian County.
“Judge Johnson was on the last panel that filled my spot and Judge Growcock is a very experienced judge,” Scott told the St. Louis Record. “Judge Hensley is a very good and competent judge. They are all good and what I really hope is that whichever two judges don't get it this time will apply again because the Governor can only pick one.”
As previously reported, Judge Gary Lynch will reach the mandatory retirement age in July 2022 while Judge William Francis Jr. will reach mandatory retirement by December 2022.
This vacancy was created by Judge Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer who retired in October after serving as a member of the judiciary since 2001.
“Judge Rahmeyer’s strength was family law and all of these nominees have dealt with family law so that will be helpful because it's helpful to fill that spot in the court,” Scott said.
Rahmeyer was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden, a Democrat, and was chief judge of the Southern District Missouri Court of Appeals from July 2002 to June 2004 and July 2017 to June 2019.
“She was the first female on our court,” Scott added. “She was serving there when I got there and she was still serving there when I left. She had a wealth of experience and was great to work with. She had a long, distinguished career and has left big shoes to fill but I know all three of these people who made this panel will be able to step in and do admirably in the job, whichever one gets the position.”
The Appellate Judicial Commission hosted two and a half hours of public interviews, two hours of deliberations, and seven rounds of balloting before settling on Growcock, Hensley, and Johnson, according to a press release.
Growcock was born in 1979 and earned her bachelor of arts in English in 2001 from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, and her law degree, with distinction, in 2004 from the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Hensley was born in 1973 and resides in Joplin. He earned his bachelor of arts, summa cum laude and with honors, in 1995 in psychology and his law degree in 1998 from the University of Missouri Columbia.
Johnson was born in 1963 and earned her bachelor of science in business arts, magna cum laude and with general honors, in finance and banking in 1985 from the University of Missouri Columbia and her law degree, cum laude, in 1988 from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.