Voters to decide on filling judicial posts

The names of candidates for circuit and associate circuit judges will be on ballots across Missouri when voters go to the polls Nov. 5. In most cases, these candidates for local judicial posts run under the banner of a political party.

Unless you are a lawyer or have recently been involved in a civil or criminal lawsuit, you must rely on personal knowledge of local judicial candidates. That works pretty well in smaller counties where you may have opportunities to meet and know candidates who want to be judges. You may see them at church or in an organization or club. You may share the same interests or hobbies.

But in larger counties, it is much less likely that voters will have any personal acquaintance with candidates for judges. And the same can be said for judges higher up the legal ladder. These include judges on Missouri's Supreme Court and those serving in the state's three appellate districts.

In St. Louis County and City as well as Jackson, Platte and Clay counties (all in the Kansas City metropolitan area), judges are selected on a merit system rather than representing political parties. In these merit-system courts, voters are asked if they wish to retain judges who want to continue their duties.

The same merit system applies to Supreme Court judges and judges of the appellate court.

For more than a decade, the Missouri Bar has compiled information for voters about judges on the Supreme Court and appellate courts. These ratings are based on surveys of lawyers who are member of the state bar. The ratings are for courtesy, fairness, clarity, integrity and legal analysis.

The best rating is 5, and the poorest rating is 1. In addition, lawyers are asked if they favor retaining each judge. Statewide, more than 1,000 lawyers participated in the judicial ratings.

The Supreme Court candidate on this year's ballot is Laura Denvir Stith, who is from St. Louis and who has held her current post since March 2001. She received no ratings below 4 (above average), and 83.7 percent of the lawyers polled said they favor retaining her on the court.

Cape Girardeau, Madison, Perry and Ste. Genevieve counties are among those in the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District. The candidate up for retention is George W. Draper III, also from St. Louis, who has held his post since May 2000. The only rating below a 4 he received was a 3.85 for legal analysis. But 87.1 percent of the polled lawyers said they favored retaining him.

Bollinger, Butler, Carter, Dunklin, Iron, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Reynolds, Scott and Wayne counties are among those in the Court of Appeals Southern District. The candidate up for retention is Nancy Steffen Rahmeyer, an Iowa native who has held her post since March 2001. Her ratings ranged from 3.88 down to 3.4, and 69.2 percent of the lawyers polled said they favored retaining her.

What happens if less than half the voters say they want to retain a judge? Under the merit selection system, a commission would select three candidates, one of which would be appointed by the governor. As a result, voters do not cast ballots to get a new judge, only to retain judges whose terms have expired.

The selection of judges is a vital part of our system of government. On Nov. 5, voters will have their say in this crucial process.