Home County: Marion
Term of service at the Supreme Court of Missouri: January 1977-April 1992
Judge Albert Rendlen was born April 7, 1922, in Hannibal, Missouri.[i] As a young man, he was introduced early to the law. His father was a practicing attorney and often took his three sons to with him to bar association meetings.[ii] Rendlen attended William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.[iii] After two years at William Jewell College, he attended the University of Illinois in Champaign and received his bachelor’s degree in 1942.[iv] Rendlen graduated from the University of Michigan School of Law in 1948. He passed the Missouri bar examination the same year.[v]
After completing law school, Rendlen returned to Hannibal and worked at the law firm Rendlen, Rendlen, Ahrens, Browne and Rendlen, with his father, Charles E. Rendlen Sr., and two brothers, Charles E. Jr. and Branham.[vi] He was in private practice with Rendlen & Rendlen from 1948 to 1974.[vii] Additionally, Rendlen served as city attorney of Alexandria, Missouri, from 1949 to 1952.[viii]
Governor Christopher Bond appointed Judge Rendlen to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, in 1974.[ix] He assumed office September 20, 1974.[x] During the 1976 general election, he was retained, under the nonpartisan court plan, for a 12-year term concluding December 31, 1988.[xi]
On January 5, 1977, Governor Bond appointed Judge Rendlen to the Supreme Court of Missouri.[xii] During the 1978 general election, he was retained in office, under the nonpartisan court plan, for a 12-year term, which concluded December 31, 1990.[xiii] Judge Rendlen was again retained in 1990.[xiv] Judge Rendlen served as chief justice from January 1983 until July 1985.[xv] While chief justice of the Court, Judge Rendlen was instrumental in establishing the annual joint meeting between the Missouri Judicial Conference and The Missouri Bar.[xvi] That first meeting took place September 29, 1983, in Kansas City.[xvii] Judge Rendlen retired from the Court April 7, 1992, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70 years old.[xviii]
Rendlen was a member of numerous organizations, including Phi Delta Phi,[xix] Barrister Society of the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor,[xx] American Judicature Society,[xxi] chairman of the Appellate Judicial Commission,[xxii] past president of the Tenth Judicial Circuit of the Bar Association,[xxiii] board of governors of The Missouri Bar from 1973 to 1975,[xxiv] and chairman of the United States Constitution Bicentennial Commission of Missouri, 1985 to 1992.[xxv] After his service with the Court, Rendlen served as an election judge in the country of Kenya in December 1992.[xxvi]
Judge Rendlen died November 23, 2009, in his hometown of Hannibal.
[i] Jeff Taylor, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Tributes.com, http://www.tributes.com/obituary/show/Albert-L.-Rendlen-87247474 (accessed October 25, 2017).
[ii] Judy Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986.
[iii] Judy Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986.
[iv] Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982.
[v] Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982.
[vi] Angela Riley, “Former Chief Justice Rendlen dies at 87,” St. Louis Daily Record, Wednesday, November 25, 2009. See also; Judy Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986. See also; Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982.
[vii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1983-1984 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1984), 169.
[viii] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed. James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1983-1984 ( Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1984), 169.
[ix] Bob Fick, “Judge Says Referendum a Test of Issues,” The Kansas City Star, Wednesday, November 1, 1978.
[x] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1983-1984
(Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1984), 169.
[xi] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1983-1984 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1984), 169.
[xii] Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982. See also; Gil Stuenkel, “Governor leads retirement ‘roast’ for Rendlen, Webster, numerous judges attend dinner honoring Supreme Court judge,” Hannibal Courier Post, Saturday, March 7, 1992. See also; Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1983-1984 (Von Hoffmann Press, Inc., Jefferson City, MO: 1984), 169.
[xiii] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xiv] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xv] Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982. See also; Julie Boyle, “Peace of the Justice: The sturdy, stable leadership of Judge Albert Rendlen,” Columbia Missourian, Sunday, December 4, 1983.
[xvi] Judy Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986.
[xvii] Judge Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986.
[xviii] Angela Riley, “Former Chief Justice Rendlen dies at 87,” St. Louis Daily Record, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
[xix] Kenneth M. Johnson, ed., James C. Kirkpatrick, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1979-1980 (Von Hoffmann, Inc., 1980), 181.
[xx] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xxi] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xxii] Gene Hoenes, “Rendlen to head Missouri Supreme Court,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Tuesday, December 21, 1982.
[xxiii] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xxiv] Judy Talley, “Judge Albert L. Rendlen,” Lake Times, Thursday, June 26, 1986. See also; Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xxv] Steven N. Ahrens, ed., Roy D. Blunt, Secretary of State, Official Manual State of Missouri, 1991-1992 (Secretary of State’s Office, Jefferson City, MO: 1992), 172.
[xxvi] John D. Milazzo, “Ups and downs in the Rendlen years,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 23-24, 1986. See also: “Albert Rendlen to serve as election judge in Kenya,” Hannibal Courier-Post, Saturday, December 12, 1992.
Biographical information authored by Mr. Alexander Galvin, 2017, University of Missouri-Columbia.