Background

From statehood in 1821 until 1865, Missouri primarily had a single-tier appellate system, with appellate jurisdiction resting in the Missouri Supreme Court.² Delegates to Missouri’s 1864 constitutional convention proposed Missouri’s first intermediate appellate system. As adopted, the Missouri Constitution of 1865 provided for circuit courts to conduct trials, with at least one judge serving in each circuit, and at least five district appellate courts.³ Each district court covered several circuits and heard claims of trial court error from those circuit courts. The district courts were comprised of all of the judges of the circuit courts within that district. In each case that came to the district court on appeal, the reviewing panel included the judge who had tried the case. The lack of separation between the trial and appellate court functions led to criticism of the district court system and, in 1870, it was abolished.⁴ Missouri reverted to its original single-tier appellate system.⁵

Delegates to the 1875 constitutional convention reviewed proposals to address excessive caseloads and resulting delays at the Missouri Supreme Court. They rejected a proposal to create three intermediate appellate courts in favor of a single intermediate court—the St. Louis Court of Appeals.⁶ The newly created intermediate court had jurisdiction over all appeals from circuit courts in four counties in the St. Louis area, and cases involving particular issues were entitled to a second appellate review at the Missouri Supreme Court. Appeals from all other circuit courts went directly to the Missouri Supreme Court.⁷

It quickly became obvious that the provisions of the 1875 constitution were not adequate to resolve the problem of the Supreme Court’s workload.⁸ In 1883, the General Assembly proposed a constitutional amendment that would establish the Kansas City Court of Appeals.⁹ Voters overwhelmingly ratified the amendment on November 4, 1884.¹⁰ In addition to creating the Kansas City Court of Appeals, the amendment expanded the territorial jurisdiction of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, so that the territorial jurisdiction of the two courts covered the entire state, and it authorized the General Assembly to establish a third intermediate appellate court.¹¹

The Kansas City Court of Appeals

Jurisdiction

The Kansas City Court of Appeals was initially given territorial jurisdiction over appeals from the circuit courts of 45 counties on the western side of the state.¹² In 1893, the General Assembly transferred one of those counties, Audrain, to the jurisdiction of the St. Louis Court of Appeals.¹³ Otherwise, the territorial jurisdiction of the Kansas City Court of Appeals remained stable until 1909, when the General Assembly created the Springfield Court of Appeals and transferred counties in the southern portion of the state from the jurisdiction of the Kansas City Court of Appeals to that of the newly created court.¹⁴ The Supreme Court was given exclusive appellate jurisdiction over eight categories of cases, with all other cases going to the courts of appeals.¹⁵ As a result, the Kansas City and St. Louis Court of Appeals heard appeals of civil matters where the amount in dispute did not exceed $2,500 and all criminal cases other than felonies. The appellate courts also had superintendent authority over inferior courts within their territorial jurisdiction and, thus, could issue remedial writs. The 1884 constitutional amendment gave the General Assembly the authority to alter the cap on the amount in dispute for purposes of the appellate courts’ jurisdiction.¹⁶ The General Assembly raised the cap to $4,500 in 1901¹⁷ and to $7,500 in 1909.¹⁸ It was not raised again until 1959 when the cap was increased to $15,000.¹⁹ The cap was raised for the last time in 1970 to $30,000.²⁰ Other than the gradual increase in the cap on the amount in dispute, the appellate courts’ jurisdiction remained virtually unchanged until 1972.²¹

Until the adoption of the 1945 Missouri Constitution, the appellate courts and Supreme Court had mutually exclusive jurisdiction, with only limited authority for the Supreme Court to review cases that fell within the appellate courts’ original jurisdiction. Legal scholars have argued that, under this system, Missouri’s courts of appeals were not intermediate courts of review, because their decisions were final within their constitutional jurisdiction.²² The Supreme Court could review cases that fell within the original appellate jurisdiction of the courts of appeals by use of only two procedures: (1) certification and transfer; or (2) writ of certiorari.²³ Cases decided by one of the courts of appeals could be certified to the Supreme Court for final disposition if “any member of the court of appeals or any division thereof dissents from the majority opinion and certifies that he deems said opinion to be contrary to any previous decision of the supreme court or of any of the courts of appeals.”²⁴ In that situation, the appellate judge was required to “certify and transfer said cause . . . to the Supreme Court, and thereupon the Supreme Court [was required to] rehear and determine the cause . . . as in the case of jurisdiction obtained by ordinary appellate process. . . .”²⁵ Alternatively, the Supreme Court had the power to quash an opinion of one of the courts of appeals in an original action for certiorari when the Supreme Court determined that the opinion created a conflict with previous decisions.²⁶ Therefore, certification and transfer was conditioned upon action taken by judges of a court of appeals, while a writ of certiorari was initiated by the Supreme Court.²⁷ But both forms of review turned on a finding that the decision to be reviewed created a conflict with an existing appellate decision.²⁸

In 1945, the Supreme Court’s authority to review cases over which it had no original appellate jurisdiction was modified by a constitutional amendment. The amendment provided continuing authority to the Supreme Court to determine cases coming to it from the courts of appeals, whether by certification and transfer or certiorari, but added that cases could be transferred to the Supreme Court by order of either the courts of appeals or the Supreme Court because of the general interest or importance of a question involved in the case, for the purpose of re-examining the existing law, or pursuant to Supreme Court rule.²⁹

Judges

Beginning in 1885, the Kansas City Court of Appeals consisted of three judges who sat together when hearing cases and issuing opinions.³⁰ The court had two terms beginning the first Monday in March and the first Monday in October each year.³¹ The first three judges of the court were appointed by Missouri’s Governor to four-year terms beginning January 1, 1885.³² Judges were first elected to the court at the November 1888 general election, with their terms beginning on January 1, 1889. The judicial candidates ran on a partisan ballot with the nominee selected by delegates at conventions of the major political parties.³³ The General Assembly provided that the duration of the terms of these first elected judges was to be determined by lot; with one judge serving four years, one serving eight years, and one serving twelve years.³⁴ Going forward, this created staggered terms, with one judge elected every four years to a twelve-year term.³⁵ In 1907, the General Assembly abolished party nominating conventions, and thereafter, candidates for election to appellate judgeships at a general election were selected in a primary election.³⁶

Under a statute passed by the General Assembly in 1885, the judge who had the oldest Missouri law license was designated the presiding judge and served as the administrative head of the court.³⁷ The Missouri Constitution was later amended to provide for a chief judge elected by the judges of the court to a term established by the court.³⁸ The number of judges serving on the court remained unchanged until 1972, but beginning in 1927 the judges were assisted by two commissioners.³⁹ The commissioners, appointed by the judges of the court, initially served two-year terms, but the terms were later extended to four years. They assisted in the resolution of cases by preparing opinions, which could be adopted, modified, or rejected by the court, but the commissioners had no vote on court business.⁴⁰

Court Rooms

Throughout its existence, the Kansas City Court of Appeals was housed in rented office space or space provided by the Jackson County Circuit Court. In 1885, the General Assembly authorized the Judges of the Kansas City Court of Appeals to rent space suitable for a court room, offices for judges and staff, and a library.⁴¹ The judges selected space in the Hall Building on the northwest corner of Ninth and Walnut Streets in Kansas City.⁴² Three years later, desiring more space, the judges entered into a lease with the owners of the newly constructed New England Building—a six-story stone structure on the northeast corner of Ninth and Wyandotte Streets in Kansas City.⁴³ In 1892, the Kansas City Court of Appeals moved to the fourth floor of the newly constructed Jackson County Courthouse. This “massive stone [building faced] south on Missouri Avenue, bounded by Locust, Oak, and 5th Streets.”⁴⁴ In 1935, the Jackson County Courthouse was replaced by the current courthouse, which faces north on 12th Street, bounded by Oak, Locust, and 13th Streets. The Kansas City Court of Appeals occupied the entire tenth floor.

Nonpartisan Court Plan

In November 1940, the voters amended the Missouri Constitution by adopting the “Nonpartisan Selection of Judges Court Plan.”⁴⁵ The Nonpartisan Court Plan remains in effect today. The amendment, proposed by initiative petition, addressed dissatisfaction with the increasing role of politics in judicial selection and the time judges spent campaigning. The Nonpartisan Court Plan provides for the selection of judges based on merit rather than political affiliation. A nonpartisan judicial commission reviews applicants. Initially, the plan applied to judges of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, and certain circuit courts in metropolitan areas. Various circuit courts have been added over the years. For appellate courts, the judicial commission is composed of three lawyers elected by the lawyer-members of The Missouri Bar, three citizens appointed by the governor, and the chief justice of the Missouri Supreme Court.⁴⁶ The commission selects a panel of three lawyers from the applicant pool, and the governor makes the appointment from the panel.⁴⁷ Once a judge has served in office for at least one year, that judge will remain in office only if retained by a vote of the people at the next general election.⁴⁸

When the Nonpartisan Court Plan took effect, those appellate judges already serving were required to stand for retention at the general election immediately preceding the end of their elected terms.⁴⁹ However, two of the three judges serving on the Kansas City Court of Appeals when the Nonpartisan Court Plan was adopted died before their terms expired. This created the first two vacancies on the court after the adoption of the Plan—one in 1944 and one in 1949.⁵⁰ The first two judges appointed under the Nonpartisan Court Plan were retained at the general elections of 1946 and 1950, respectively, and the remaining elected judge was retained at the 1948 general election.⁵¹

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

The creation of appellate courts did not relieve the caseload challenges at the Missouri Supreme Court. As long as the Constitution dictated that the Supreme Court had exclusive appellate jurisdiction over most categories of cases, that court’s workload could not be effectively managed. By the middle of the twentieth century, lawyers and academics were advocating for significant changes to Missouri’s appellate process.⁵²

In 1969, in response to calls for reform, the General Assembly passed a proposed amendment to the judicial article of the Missouri Constitution. The proposal, adopted by the voters at the 1970 general election, drastically reduced the cases within the Missouri Supreme Court’s exclusive appellate jurisdiction.⁵³ The amendment expressly provided that the court of appeals “shall have general appellate jurisdiction in all cases except those within the exclusive jurisdiction of the supreme court.”⁵⁴ As a result of these changes, the cap on the amount of money in dispute in civil cases was removed, and the appellate court was given jurisdiction over almost all felonies. These changes meant that most appeals would be presented to and finally decided by the court of appeals. But, the Supreme Court retained discretionary jurisdiction so that it could choose to hear cases presenting issues of general interest and importance or to resolve conflicts.⁵⁵

Under the new judicial article approved in 1970, the three appellate courts were merged into a single Missouri Court of Appeals to be divided into districts as the General Assembly saw fit. The General Assembly adopted three districts that mirrored the territorial jurisdiction of the previously existing appellate courts, and renamed them. Initially, the district on the western side of the state was known as the Missouri Court of Appeals, Kansas City District, but in 1978, following another constitutional amendment, legislation was passed renaming the districts the Western, Eastern, and Southern Districts.⁵⁶ Thus, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, was born.

The 1970s and early 1980s were a time of significant change at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. The 1970 Constitutional amendment eliminated the use of commissioners.⁵⁷ When the two commissioners that were serving the Western District left the court, they were not replaced. As caseloads increased as a result of the court’s broadened jurisdiction, three judges could no longer handle the volume of work. Three additional judges were appointed to the court in 1972, and another added in 1974, bringing the number of judges to seven. Three more judges were added to the court in 1979. The addition of an eleventh judge in 1981 brought the court to the size it is today.⁵⁸ Although the tenth floor of the Jackson County Courthouse had been designed for the use of the Court of Appeals, the addition of judges to the court made the space inadequate. Beginning in 1979, the court leased auxiliary office space in the Traders Bank Building at 12th Street and Grand Boulevard, two blocks from the courthouse. In 1981, construction began on a courthouse for the use of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. The building was completed and the court moved into the courthouse at the corner of Oak and 13th Streets in downtown Kansas City in 1982. The Western District is the only appellate court in the state with a building dedicated exclusively to its use.

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