Home County: Cape Girardeau

Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: August 1992 - July 2008

Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. was raised in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He attended Southern Methodist University in Texas for both his undergraduate degree, which he received in 1973, and law degree, which he received in 1976.[i] He earned a master of laws degree in judicial process from the University of Virginia in 1998.[ii] After being admitted to the bar, in both Texas and Missouri, in 1977, Limbaugh returned to Cape Girardeau and worked at the family law firm; Limbaugh, Limbaugh and Russell.[iii] In 1978, Limbaugh was elected Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney. He served in that capacity until 1982.[iv]

He returned to private practice with the Limbaugh Firm from 1983 until 1987, when he was appointed circuit judge of the 32nd Judicial Circuit (Bollinger, Cape Girardeau and Perry counties).[v] He was elected in 1990, for a six-year term, as a circuit judge.[vi] While on the circuit bench, he also served as a judge of the court’s juvenile division and as a member of Missouri Division of Youth Services Advisory Board.[vii]  In 1992, Limbaugh was appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri by Governor John Ashcroft.[viii]  While on the bench, he served as co-chair of the Supreme Court Task Force on Children and Families.[ix]

In July 2001, Judge Limbaugh became the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri.[x] He served as chief justice through June 2003.[xi] He was retained as a Supreme Court judge in 2006.[xii] Two years into his second term, President George Bush nominated Judge Limbaugh to fill a vacancy on the federal bench.[xiii] His nomination was confirmed through the United States Senate.[xiv] He resigned from the Supreme Court of Missouri at the end of July 2008 and began his new position with federal court.[xv]  Judge Limbaugh serves as a judge of the United States District Court of Eastern District of Missouri.

Throughout his career, Limbaugh participated in a variety of professional organizations. He was a member, chair, or co-chair of various committees, societies, associations, commissions, and organizations such as: The Missouri Bar; American Bar Association,[xvi] Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis,[xvii] and the American Judicature Society.[xviii] He has been recognized for his contributions to the Missouri people through various awards and honors, including: Lawdragon 500 Leading Judges in America (2006),[xix]  and Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service, SMU Dedman School of Law (2006).[xx]

Judge Limbaugh’s family has been involved in the field of law for many generations. Most notable is his grandfather, Rush H. Limbaugh Sr., who practiced law for nearly 80 years in the Cape Girardeau area.[xxi] His father, Stephen N. Limbaugh Sr., practiced law in Cape Girardeau and served as a federal judge in St. Louis for nearly 25 years.[xxii] His grandfather’s legacy of civic service is memorialized at the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse in Cape Girardeau, which opened in the spring of 2008.[xxiii]