JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary R. Russell was elected to a second term as chief justice.
Russell said it is an honor to be the first woman to serve a second term as Missouri's chief justice.
"It also is a unique moment in our state’s history, as the appointments of two new judges this fall has shifted the Court to have a majority of female judges for the first time," Russell said in an interview with The St. Louis Record.
Russell said something she loves about being a Supreme Court justice is being able to participate in educating residents of Missouri
"And although doing civic education isn’t new – having the opportunity to help Missourians better understand the important role the courts serve in our society is something I love about being a Supreme Court judge –it seems being chief justice brings even more invitations to speak," she said.
Russell said the Supreme Court is very collegial and has a tradition of rotating chief justices every two years, which helps to ensure collegiality and give each justice the opportunity to lead the court.
"Each of us is but a temporary guardian – not only of the role of chief justice during our two-year term but also of the Court as an institution, in our roles as judges of the Court," Russell said. "The integrity of the institution is more important than any of us as individuals."
Russell said that being chief justice brings certain additional duties, such as presiding over all the court’s oral argument sessions, signing all routine orders on behalf of the court, delivering annual speeches on behalf of the judicial branch to the legislature and the bar and signing law licenses for new attorneys admitted to practice in the state.
"But the chief justice still has only one vote on the Court, and we like to joke it takes four votes to even order lunch," Russell said.
Russell said unlike at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the chief justice has a role in assigning opinions, that is not true for the Missouri Supreme Court.
"We share equally in the opinion workload, rotating through the opinion-writing duty of the cases that come before us," Russell said.
Russell said when she served as chief justice a decade ago, she spent time visiting courthouses around the state to learn from people who use the court system, listening to their experiences.
"This term, I plan to visit all 46 judicial circuits in the state to thank our local court employees for everything they do," Russell said. "They are the heart of our courts, overworked and underpaid. In the past year alone, they have been transitioning to a new case management system, scouring thousands of court records for potential expungements, and helping us navigate remote public access to court records, all while making sure the everyday work of the courts still gets done."
Russell said she wants them to know how much she appreciates them, and she wants to listen to their ideas for how the court might do things better.
"So far, I have visited 12 circuits and have enjoyed meeting and thanking the heroes in our judiciary," Russell said.
Russell said her time on the court has taught her the most important role of its chief justice is to be ready to respond to whatever changes may come or issues may arise.
"The foundation of our courts — like the concepts of the rule of law and legal precedence — remain steady," Russell said. "But how we do our jobs has changed and likely will continue to do so, with rapid changes in technology continuing to advance and retirements bring new fresh faces with new ideas to our courts and our legal community."
Russell said as chief justice, she hopes to help lead the legal community in continuing to build resiliency and adapt to the changes, doing their best to use change as an agent for making meaningful improvements.
Russell was appointed to the Missouri Supreme Court in 2004 by Gov. Bob Holden. She is a graduate of Northeast Missouri State University and the University of Missouri.