The Appellate Judicial Commission is reviewing 15 applicants who submitted to fill a vacancy on the Court of Appeals in the Eastern District.
The vacancy was created by Judge Colleen Dolan’s departure on Aug. 2.
“Judge Dolan was a tremendous judge,” said Judge Dan Scott who retired from the Southern District Missouri Court of Appeals on Dec. 31, 2020. “She did a great job on the Eastern District.”
Five of the 15 applicants that the Commission is now interviewing are women, two are persons of color, five are employed outside the St. Louis metropolitan areas, six work in the public sector, seven work in the private sector, and two work in both, according to the court's press release.
“I'm hoping the Commission will pick three cracker jack candidates and I'm sure they'll get them so that the governor can make a decision on whatever basis he wants because the governor is permitted to take political considerations into his decision that really the commission doesn't do,” Scott told the St. Louis Record. “They're straight up a merit group.”
The Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan was adopted by ballot initiative in the 1940s. It is designed to be a merit-based and non-partisan process for selecting judges. Commissions are responsible for selecting nominees for vacancies on the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and state circuit courts while Gov. Mike Parson will be expected to make the final decision among three finalists from the 15 applicants.
Of the six applicants employed in the public sector, two work in a solo or small firm practice, and five are trial court judges. The applicants' mean age overall is 50.2 years.
“It's the job of the Commission to create the strongest possible panel of three nominees to offer to the governor so that whoever the governor picks will be a good judge,” Scott said.
The 15 applicants are Thomas Albus, Shane K. Blank, Timothy Etzkorn, Peter Gullborg, Kathleen S. Hamilton, Renee D. Harden-Tammons, Joseph B. Kloecker Jr., Ellen S Levy, Jeffrey T. McPherson, Rebecca M. Navarro-McKelvey, Susan M. Petersen, David E. Roland. David R. Truman, Grant W. Wobig, and Michael S. Wright.
“There's no guarantee who the governor is going to pick so the right attitude for the Commission to have is to pick three strong people so that the governor can't go wrong,” Scott added.
The commission is expected to conduct interviews beginning at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7, and 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, at One Post Office Square, 815 Olive Street, in St. Louis. The interviews are open to the public.