Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1969-August 1982
Judge June P. Morgan was born June 12, 1917, in Silex, Missouri.[i] He graduated in 1934 from Gallatin High School[ii] and received his bachelor’s degree in 1940 from Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville.[iii] In 1947, he received his law degree from the University of Missouri School of Law[iv] and was admitted to the state’s bar.[v]
Morgan moved to Chillicothe, where he was a private practice attorney from 1947 until 1961.[vi] During that time, he also served as the city attorney of Chillicothe for two terms as well as the prosecuting attorney of Livingston County for three terms.[vii] On November 3, 1961, he was appointed by Governor John Dalton to the 43rd Judicial Circuit in Chillicothe.[viii] Morgan was elected in November 1962 and reelected in November 1964 for a term that would have expired January 1, 1971.[ix]
On November 1, 1967, Morgan was appointed by Governor Warren Hearnes[x] to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.[xi] Judge Morgan was retained, under the nonpartisan court plan, in November 1968 for a 12-year term that would have ended in 1981.[xii] Governor Warren Hearnes appointed Judge Morgan to the Supreme Court of Missouri on January 3, 1969.[xiii] Judge Morgan was retained, under the nonpartisan court plan, in 1970 for 12 years.[xiv] Judge Morgan was chief justice of the Supreme Court of Missouri from July 1977 to July 1979.[xv] He retired August 31, 1982.[xvi]
Judge Morgan was involved in numerous organizations within the legal community. As a legal professional, he was a member of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity,[xvii] The Missouri Bar,[xviii] the American Bar Association,[xix] the American Judicature Society,[xx] an honorary member of the Order of the Coif,[xxi] and the executive council of the National Conference of Chief Justices.[xxii] Even after he retired from the Court, Judge Morgan continued to serve with the Court as a special judge.[xxiii]
Judge Morgan died September 28, 1998, in Jefferson City.[xxiv]
[i] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30 1998.
[ii] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30, 1998.
[iii] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30 1998.
[iv] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30, 1998.
[v] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed. James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1981-1982 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1982), 144.
[vi] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30 1998.
[vii] “J.P. Morgan,” Judicial Department.
[viii] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30 1998. See also; Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1977-1978 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1978), 189.
[ix] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1977-1978 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1978), 189.
[x] “J.P. Morgan,” Supreme Court Judges.
[xi] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1977-1978 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1978), 189.
[xii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed. James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1977-1978 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1978), 189.
[xiii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1977-1978 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1978), 189.
[xiv] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1979-1980 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1980), 178.
[xv] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1979-1980 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1980), 178.
[xvi] “Missouri Jurist To Step Down,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sunday, May 16, 1982.
[xvii] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30, 1998.
[xviii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed. James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1981-1982 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1982), 144.
[xix] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30, 1998.
[xx] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1981-1982(Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1982), 144.
[xxi] “Obituaries: Morgan,” Jefferson City Post-Tribune, Wednesday, September 30 1998.
[xxii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed. James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri 1981-1982 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1982), 144.
[xxiii] Associated Press, “Retired judge dies following 3-car crash,” Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, MO), Tuesday, September 29, 1998.
[xxiv] Virginia Young, “J.P. Morgan; retired Missouri Supreme Court judge known for intelligent, practical rulings,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Wednesday, September 30, 1998.
Biographical information authored by Mr. Alexander Galvin, 2017, University of Missouri-Columbia.