The Appellate Judicial Commission is accepting applications for judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, to fill the vacancy created by the July 31, 2022, retirement of Judge William W. Francis Jr. As previously explained, applications of individuals who applied for the recent Lynch vacancy on the Southern District automatically will be considered for the Francis vacancy, and those individuals will not be re-interviewed.
Francis was a judge for 12 years. He earned his bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in 1974 from what is now Missouri State University in Springfield and his law degree in 1977 from the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law. He had been in the private practice of law in Springfield for more than three decades when he was appointed in May 2010 to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, for which he served as chief judge from July 2013 through June 2015.
Citizens are encouraged to nominate well-qualified candidates for the commission’s consideration. The Missouri Constitution requires that a judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals be at least 30 years old, licensed to practice law in Missouri, a United States citizen for at least 15 years and a qualified Missouri voter for at least nine years next preceding selection. Nominations should be submitted to the commission by e-mail at SDJudgeVacancy@courts.mo.gov, or by postal mail to Appellate Judicial Commission, Southern District Judge Vacancy, Post Office Box 150, Jefferson City, MO 65102. The nomination form is available below.
Public nomination form: Word PDF
For those who did not apply for the Lynch-Francis vacancies, new applications will be accepted until noon Friday, September 23, 2022. Interested persons may download the application materials and instructions below:
Instructions for applicants: Word PDF
Guidelines for references: Word PDF
Due to scheduling issues, and in the interest of filling the vacancy as expeditiously as possible, the commission expects to meet Sunday, October 2, at the Supreme Court Building, 207 West High Street, in Jefferson City to interview any new applicants and select a panel of three nominees for the Francis vacancy for the governor’s consideration. The interviews will be open to the public. The names of new applicants to be interviewed as well as information relating to the number and characteristics of all applicants will be released publicly prior to the interviews.
Original source can be found here.