KANSAS CITY, Mo. –The judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District have elected Mark D. Pfeiffer as chief judge. Pfeiffer’s two-year term began July 1, 2016.

The chief judge serves as chief administrative officer of the court. The chief judge’s duties include presenting the court’s budget to the legislature and approving all financial transactions involving the court. The chief judge also assigns the 11 judges to panels that will hear appeals and petitions for extraordinary writs, and designates the presiding judges of those panels. The chief judge works closely with the clerk of the court in considering and ruling on motions presented to the court, and presides over the monthly conference of the judges. As part of his duties, Pfeiffer will chair the Sixth, Seventh and Sixteenth circuit judicial commissions, which are responsible for selecting three-person panels for consideration by the governor when judicial vacancies occur in those circuits.

Pfeiffer was appointed to the Western District in May 2009. He earned an undergraduate degree in accounting from Westminster College in Fulton and a law degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After graduation, he practiced law for three years in Springfield, Missouri, before returning to his native Columbia. He was a shareholder in the law firm of Bley & Pfeiffer PC for 14 years prior to his appointment to the court of appeals by Governor Jay Nixon.

Pfeiffer issued the following statement:

"I am honored to serve a court that recognizes its role in serving the public by thoroughly and thoughtfully analyzing legal issues in an efficient and open manner. Though our courthouse may be physically located in Kansas City, we recognize the need to make ourselves available to the citizens of all 45 counties within our territorial district, hearing special oral argument dockets in communities throughout our territorial district usually every month of every year. And recognizing the principle that justice delayed is justice denied, our court has reduced the average time under submission for delivering our opinions on cases before us from approximately 100 days ten years ago to 32 days presently. I am proud of the rich history of this court that dates back to the 19th century, and I embrace the opportunity to open the doors of our courthouse every day for all to see a place where the members of the home we call the Western District live by the creed: Let justice be served, not those who serve it."