Judge Michael E. Gardner of Cape Girardeau has been elected chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, by unanimous vote of the judges of the court. His one-year term begins July 1, 2022. The chief judge is the chief administrative officer of the court, presides at court en banc meetings and represents the court to the public.
Governor Michael L. Parson appointed Gardner to the Eastern District in February 2020. Gardner received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In law school, he served as lead articles editor of the Missouri Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif. After graduating, he clerked for Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. at the Supreme Court of Missouri. He then worked in private practice for nine years. In 2014, he was elected circuit judge of the 32nd Judicial Circuit, which covers Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. He served as a circuit judge for five years, including a two-year term as presiding judge.
Gardner has been very active with legal and civic organizations. He served on The Missouri Bar board of governors from 2012 to 2014 and is a former member of the Bar’s Young Lawyers’ Section council. For the past five years, he has served on The Missouri Bar Foundation board of trustees. Gardner also has been a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners since 2013. He is a member and past-president of the Cape West Rotary Club and previously served as assistant governor of Rotary District 6060. Gardner is married and has four children. He and his family are members of St. Vincent de Paul Parish.
“I’m very honored to serve as chief judge of the Eastern District,” Gardner said. “I look forward to traveling all around the Eastern District to speak to students and civic organizations about our system of justice, and I’m excited that we will be regularly conducting oral argument at various high schools throughout the district. The judges and staff of our court are very dedicated, and I know they will continue to do a great job serving the people of Missouri in a fair and efficient manner.
“On a personal level, it is a great honor to once again follow in the footsteps of the late Judge Stanley Grimm, who was the last person from Cape Girardeau to serve as chief judge of the Eastern District,” Gardner added.
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, hears appeals from the circuit courts in 25 counties in eastern Missouri and the city of St. Louis. It is the largest court in the state appellate system. The court is located in the historic Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis but regularly holds sessions at various locations throughout the district.
Source: https://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=89925