Mary Rhodes Russell previously served as the Missouri Supreme Court chief judge from 2013 to 2015 and it was announced on June 29 that she was elevated to the position for a second time.
“Judge Russell knows from personal experience how much that job entails and how consuming it is so the fact that she's willing to do it again, even knowing all that, is a blessing for the court,” said Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District Judge Sherri Sullivan.
Russell succeeds Judge Paul C. Wilson who remains on the court. Her two-year tenure began on July 1.
“She's been in the past been called the ‘Ambassador of the Judiciary’ and for good reason because there's no one that represents the court in a better light or that works harder or establishes and maintains relationships better,” Sullivan said of Russell.
Russell’s appointment is one of several changes this year that have impacted the state’s highest court. Both Judge Patricia Breckenridge and former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice George W. Draper III turned 70 years old this year and were forced to retire.
If a judge is still in office on their 70th birthday, they forfeit their pension under a provision in the state constitution.
“There are some that would definitely be still very accomplished until 75 years old,” Sullivan told the St. Louis Record. “Others, maybe not, but I could see where, on a case-by-case basis, 75 years old would be a good change because there are a lot of judges that still want to do the job past 70 years old.”
Russell has served on the Missouri Supreme Court for nearly 10 years.
Prior to Gov. Bob Holden initially appointing Russell to the Supreme Court in 2004, she worked as a lawyer in private practice in Hannibal and was an appellate judge for the Eastern District.
“She is high energy,” Sullivan added. “She can work on one project and have four others in the works. She can see the immediate and the big picture all the time. I think the judiciary is really fortunate that Judge Russell has agreed to do a second term.”
Russell earned her law degree from the University of Missouri and was raised on a dairy farm near Hannibal.