2 March 2018
Updated 5 March 2018 with revised date for interviews

ST. LOUIS – The Twenty-First Circuit Judicial Commission is accepting applications for an associate circuit judge vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Mary Elizabeth Ott as circuit judge in St. Louis County. Judge Ott is a 1985 graduate of Saint Louis University School of Law. She was appointed associate circuit judge by Governor Matt Blunt in 2008.

The commission encourages qualified individuals to apply for this judicial office. Qualifications for associate circuit judge may be found in article V, section 21 of the Missouri Constitution.

Application forms may be picked up in the clerk’s office of the Missouri Court of Appeals located in the Old Post Office, 815 Olive Street, Room 304, St. Louis, Missouri. Applications are also available here:


Applicants who previously applied for the vacancies created by the retirements of Judge Carolyn Whittington and/or Judge Dennis Smith may send a letter requesting that their previous application be transferred to the current opening. 

Applications must be received by the chairman no later than 5 p.m. March 23, 2018, although earlier submission is encouraged. 

On April 17, 2018, the commission will conduct interviews of the applicants which will be open to the public in accordance with Rules 10.28 and 10.29. These interviews will take place at the St. Louis County Court Building, Room South 15, 105 South Central, Clayton, Missouri. Immediately upon the conclusion of the public interviews, the commission will meet and select the three nominees for the vacancy to be submitted to the governor.

The members of the Twenty-First Circuit Judicial Commission are: James M. Dowd, chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, and chairman of the commission; Tiffany Mapp Franklin, William P. Grant, Thomas K. Reedy, and Jeffrey D. Sigmund.

Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District
(314) 539-4300