KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is scheduled to convene court Wednesday, March 16, 2022, at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. The arguments are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the Activities Room in the Student Union Building on campus.

A three-judge panel, consisting of Chief Judge Cynthia Martin, Judge Tom Chapman and Judge Douglas Thomson will hear oral arguments in four cases on the docket. After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system, explain the proceedings and take questions from the audience.

Chief Judge Martin will preside over the proceedings at Truman State. Judge Martin joined the Western District in 2009. She practiced law in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit before joining the Court. Judge Chapman was appointed to the Western District in 2018. Immediately prior to his appointment, he served as a circuit judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit (Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb and Livingston counties) for more than seven years. Judge Thomson was appointed to the court of appeals in 2020. Prior to that, he served as an associate circuit judge for Nodaway County (in the 4th Judicial Circuit) for more than five years.

The court typically convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 20 years, however, the court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in the court’s jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears oral arguments outside of Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize those attending with the court's role in the judicial system.

Attachment: summaries of cases to be argued

Contact: Kimberly K. Boeding, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District

(816) 889-3600