Ahuja appointed to Mo. appeals court on third try

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Kansas City-area attorney Alok (AH'-lok) Ahuja (Ah-HUH'-jah) has been appointed to the state Court of Appeals.

Governor Matt Blunt picked Ahuja to fill the Western District appeals seat vacated when Judge Patricia Breckenridge was elevated to the state Supreme Court.

This was Ahuja's third try for an appeals court spot in recent months.

Ahuja also was a finalist for Western District vacancies when Blunt instead appointed Judge James Welsh in October and Judge Joseph Dandurand last week.

Under Missouri's judicial selection process, a special panel nominates three candidates and the governor appoints one of them.

The other finalists this time were Atchison County Associate Circuit Judge Zel Fischer and Rod Chapel, a member of the state Administrative Hearing Commission.