Judge from Cape Girardeau one of three nominated for Missouri Supreme Court

A judge from Cape Girardeau has been named as one of three finalists to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court.

Michael Gardner, a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, in St. Louis was presented to Gov. Mike Parson as one of three names for the appointment to replace Judge George W. Draper III, who is retiring.

In such an event where there is a vacancy on the state's highest court, a nonpartisan commission reviews applications and presents three nominations to the governor. After the appointed justice serves at least one year, the new justice will appear on the ballot for a retention vote.

Parson previously appointed Gardner to the Eastern District in 2020. At that time, Gardner was the first individual south of Jefferson County to serve on the Court of Appeals, Eastern District, since Stanley Grimm, who retired in 1998. In July 2022, Gardner was elected chief judge appellate court by a unanimous vote of the judges.

Gardner declined to comment on the nomination out of respect for the process.

Gardner graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia's School of Law in 2004, where he finished second in his class out of 180, according to the application that was sent to the committee. He clerked for Judge Stephen Limbaugh Jr. at the Missouri Supreme Court.

After spending about a decade at the Osburn, Hine, Yates & Murphy Law Firm, he was elected as the circuit judge of the 32nd Judicial Circuit of Missouri, which covers Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties. Gardner won that race by less than a percentage point over Trae Bertrand.

In addition to his professional law positions, Gardner has served as president of the St. Vincent de Paul School Board and president of Cape West Rotary, and was a member of the Missouri Board of Law Examiners and Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar, according to previous reporting by the Southeast Missourian.