13th Judicial Circuit of Missouri

Judge Joshua C. Devine serves as the Presiding Judge for the 13th Judicial Circuit of Missouri, having been elected to that position by his fellow judges of the circuit on January 7, 2025.

As the Presiding Judge, he has general administrative authority over the circuit court and municipal courts within the 13th Judicial Circuit, which includes presiding over meetings of the Court En Banc, overseeing staff, and assigning dockets and caseloads to other judges. As a circuit judge, he presides over criminal, civil, and expungement cases in Boone and Callaway Counties, as well as the grand jury in Boone County. In addition to these responsibilities, he also serves on the Presiding Judges' Executive Committee and the Circuit Court Budget Committee, having been appointed to these committees by the Supreme Court of Missouri in January of 2025.

Judge Devine was initially appointed to his position as a circuit judge by Governor Michael L. Parson on June 12, 2020, following the retirement of Judge Jodie Capshaw Asel. In November of 2020, he was elected to his position by the citizens of Boone and Callaway counties.

Before taking the bench, Judge Devine worked as a Principal attorney with Rogers, Ehrhardt, Weber & Howard, LLC, where he specialized in complex civil litigation. In 2018, Judge Devine served as an Associate Circuit Judge in Boone County, where he presided over thousands of associate level criminal and civil cases. Judge Devine previously worked as an attorney with Husch Blackwell LLP in St. Louis, and with Ford, Parshall & Baker, LLC in Columbia.

Judge Devine received his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law, where he earned membership in the Order of the Coif, generally considered the highest honor a law student can achieve. He also received numerous awards and accolades in law school, including the Judge L.F. Cottey Award for excellence in written and oral advocacy. He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Truman State University, where he graduated with honors.

In private practice, Judge Devine was named to the Missouri/Kansas Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers Magazine for six consecutive years, from 2014 through 2019. He was also named to the 2019 Class of 20 Under 40 by the Columbia Business Times. He is honored to have previously served for six years on the Board of Directors for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Mid-Missouri, and to have previously served as President of the IMPACT Rotary Club of Columbia.

Judge Devine is the son of Jim and Sharon Devine, both now deceased. His father served for nearly 30 years at the University of Missouri School of Law, first as a Professor of Law and later as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.

He is married to Christina Devine, an attorney with Boone County Family Resources. They are both proud graduates of Columbia Public Schools, and enjoy raising their two boys in Columbia, the community they have called home for most of their lives.

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