Judge William Duane Benton[i]
Home County: Cole
Term of Service on the Supreme Court of Missouri: August 1991-June 2004
Judge Duane Benton was born September 8, 1950, in Springfield, Missouri.[ii] He was raised in Willow Springs, Mountain View and Cape Girardeau, Missouri.[iii] After graduating from high school, Benton earned his bachelor’s degree, summa cum laude, in 1972 from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.[iv] He earned his law degree in 1975 from Yale Law School.[v] While attending Yale, he was the editor and managing editor of the Yale Law Journal.[vi]
Benton worked as a judge advocate general from 1975 to 1979 for the United States Navy.[vii] During his service in the navy, he also received his master’s degree in business administration and accountancy from Memphis State University (now University of Memphis),[viii] becoming a certified public accountant in 1983.[ix]
Benton has been admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and in all courts in Missouri.[x] He was in the private practice of law in Jefferson City for six years.[xi] He also served as legal counsel for The Missouri Baptist Convention.[xii] In 1989, then-Governor John Ashcroft appointed him as director of the state’s department of revenue.[xiii] Benton served as director of revenue until Ashcroft appointed him August 16, 1991, to the Supreme Court of Missouri.[xiv]
Under the Missouri Plan, the voters of the state retained Benton as a Supreme Court judge in November 1992.[xv] He served as chief justice from July 1, 1997, through June 30, 1999.[xvi] He was the only certified public accountant serving on any supreme court in the country.[xvii] In February 2004, then-President George W. Bush nominated Benton as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.[xviii] He was sworn in as a federal appellate judge on January 13, 2005.[xix] At that time, Benton was the first and only United States Circuit Judge to be a certified public accountant.[xx]
During his service with the Supreme Court of Missouri, Benton received his masters of laws from the University of Virginia.[xxi] He also completed the senior executives program at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government[xxii] and a post-graduate appellate judges course at New York University’s Institute of Judicial Administration.[xxiii] Benton received honorary doctor of law degrees from the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg (previously Central Missouri State University)[xxiv] and Westminster College in Fulton.[xxv] In addition to his judicial service, Benton has been an adjunct professor of law at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, Westminster College in Fulton[xxvi] and Saint Louis University.[xxvii]
Benton has been a member of numerous organizations including the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association,[xxviii] the American Bar Association,[xxix] The Missouri Bar,[xxx] the Cole County Bar Association,[xxxi] the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants.[xxxii] He has received numerous awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association[xxxiii] and The Missouri Bar’s Warren H. Solomon Award.[xxxiv] Benton has served as the chair of the Multistate Tax Commission, president of the Midwestern State Association of Tax Administrators, and regent on the board for the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg.[xxxv]
[i] United States Senate, June 24, 2004, Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 108th Congress, Second Session, Vol. 150, No. 89, Part II, "Nomination of William Duane Benton To Be United States Circuit Judge For The Eighth Circuit," (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office), S7403, accessed September 19, 2018, available from:https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2004/6/24/senate-section/article/S7403-2 Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[ii] Rebecca McDowell Cook, Secretary of State, Jim Grebing, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1997-1998, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 1998), 195
[iii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[iv] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[v] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[vi] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[vii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[viii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[ix] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[x]Howell County News Staff. "Willow Springs native and federal Judge Duane Benton to speak at WS American Legion." Howell County News (Willow Springs, Missouri), April 13, 2018, accessed September 19, 2018, available from: https://www.howellcountynews.com/news/willow-springs-native-federal-judge-duane-benton-to-speak-at/article_21a212ea-3f39-11e8-9903-93c32b22ba5e.html Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xi] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2003-2004, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2004), 222.
[xii] Don Hinkle, ed., "Benton sworn in to 8th U.S. Circuit Court." The Pathway: News Journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention (Jefferson City, Missouri), February 1, 2005.
[xiii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2003-2004, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2004), 222.
[xiv] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218. See also: "Judge Benton Nominated for Seat on Federal Appeals Court." ESQ., The Missouri Bar Weekly Newsletter (Jefferson City, Missouri), 2004.
[xv] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[xvi] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2003-2004, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2004), 222.
[xvii] Rebecca McDowell Cook, Secretary of State, Julius Johnson, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1999-2000, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2000), 194.
[xviii] Associated Press. "Bush tabs Benton for appeals court." Post-Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri), February 13, 2004.
[xix] Don Hinkle, ed., “Benton sworn in to 8th U.S. Circuit Court,” The Pathway: News Journal of the Missouri Baptist Convention (Jefferson City, Missouri), February 1, 2005.
[xx] Howell County News Staff. "Willow Springs native and federal Judge Duane Benton to speak at WS American Legion." Howell County News (Willow Springs), April 13, 2018, accessed September 19, 2018, available from: https://www.howellcountynews.com/news/willow-springs-native-federal-judge-duane-benton-to-speak-at/article_21a212ea-3f39-11e8-9903-93c32b22ba5e.html Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library. See also: Donna Walter, ed., “Judge Benton sworn in as newest judge on 8th Circuit,” The Countian (St. Louis, Missouri), January 15, 2005.
[xxi] Howell County News Staff, "Willow Springs native and federal Judge Duane Benton to speak at WS American Legion," Howell County News (Willow Springs, Missouri), April 13, 2018, accessed September 19, 2018, available from: https://www.howellcountynews.com/news/willow-springs-native-federal-judge-duane-benton-to-speak-at/article_21a212ea-3f39-11e8-9903-93c32b22ba5e.html Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxii] Rebecca McDowell Cook, Secretary of State, Jim Grebing, ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 1997-1998, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 1998), 195.
[xxiii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[xxiv] News Tribune Staff, "Honorary doctorate for Benton." News Tribune (Jefferson City, Missouri), Dec. 22, 1994.
[xxv] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[xxvi] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Secretary of State's Office, Jefferson City, MO: 2002), 218.
[xxvii] “Judge Duane Benton: Adjunct Professor,” SLU Law Website, accessed on September 17, 2018, available from: http://law.slu.edu/people/judge-duane-benton Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxviii] "Hon. Duane Benton and Hon. Michael Wolff to Be Honored." KC Counselor, November 2006.
[xxix] "Duane Benton: Chief Justice Supreme Court of Missouri." Mineral Area College (Park Hills, Missouri), November 12, 1998, accessed September 17, 2018, available from: http://www.mineralarea.edu/library/documents/cozeanlectureprogrambenton.pdf Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxx] Howell County News Staff. "Willow Springs native and federal Judge Duane Benton to speak at WS American Legion." Howell County News (Willow Springs, Missouri), April 13, 2018, accessed September 19, 2018, available from: https://www.howellcountynews.com/news/willow-springs-native-federal-judge-duane-benton-to-speak-at/article_21a212ea-3f39-11e8-9903-93c32b22ba5e.html Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxxi] "Duane Benton: Chief Justice Supreme Court of Missouri." Mineral Area College (Park Hills, Missouri), November 12, 1998, accessed September 17, 2018, available from: http://www.mineralarea.edu/library/documents/cozeanlectureprogrambenton.pdf Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
[xxxii] Matt Blunt, Secretary of State, Rob Davis ed., Official Manual, State of Missouri, 2001-2002, (Jefferson City, MO: Office of the Secretary of State, 2002), 218.
[xxxiii] "Hon. Duane Benton and Hon. Michael Wolff to Be Honored." KC Counselor. The Monthly Magazine of Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, (Kansas City, Missouri), November 2006.
[xxxiv] "Judge Benton Chosen for 2004 Warren H. Soloman Award." ESQ., The Missouri Bar Weekly Newsletter, (Jefferson City, Missouri), February 27, 2004.
[xxxv] Howell County News Staff. "Willow Springs native and federal Judge Duane Benton to speak at WS American Legion." Howell County News (Willow Springs, Missouri), April 13, 2018, accessed September 19, 2018, available from: https://www.howellcountynews.com/news/willow-springs-native-federal-judge-duane-benton-to-speak-at/article_21a212ea-3f39-11e8-9903-93c32b22ba5e.html Paper copy of document filed at the Supreme Court of Missouri Law Library.
Biographical information authored by Mr. James Anderson, 2018, University of Missouri-Columbia.