The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, plans to convene court at 1 p.m. Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at the Clay County Courthouse in Liberty.
Chief Judge Anthony Rex Gabbert, Judge Janet Sutton, and Special Judge James Welsh will hear oral arguments in five cases on the docket. All three judges on this docket previously served as judges in the 7th Judicial Circuit (Clay County) and served as presiding judges during their tenure on the Clay County bench.
Gabbert will preside over the proceedings at the Clay County Courthouse. He was appointed to the Western District in 2013. Prior to that, he served as a municipal judge, associate circuit judge, and a circuit judge in Clay County. Sutton joined the Western District in in 2021. Prior to that, she served as a municipal judge for the city of Excelsior Springs and as an associate circuit judge and a circuit judge in Clay County. Welsh served on the Western District for more than 10 years before his retirement in 2018. Previously, he served as a municipal judge, associate circuit judge, and circuit judge in Clay County. Although retired, Welsh serves as a senior judge and was appointed to sit with this panel by the Supreme Court of Missouri at Gabbert’s request pursuant to section 476.681 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri.
The Western District typically convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 25 years, however, the court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in the court’s jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears oral arguments outside Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize those attending with the court’s role in the judicial system.
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