6 November 2023
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Appellate Judicial Commission has submitted to Governor Michael L. Parson its panel of nominees to fill the vacancy on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. This vacancy exists due to the September 2023 appointment of Judge Kelly C. Broniec to the Supreme Court of Missouri.
The commission unanimously supports the three nominees. After approximately three hours of public interviews, approximately an hour and a half of deliberations, and nine rounds of balloting, the nominees are Virginia W. Lay, Rebeca M. Navarro-McKelvey and Susan M. Petersen.
Lay is a circuit judge in the 21st Judicial Circuit (St. Louis County). She was born in 1968 and resides in Clayton. She received her bachelor of arts, with honors, in American Studies in 1990 from Columbia University in New York, New York, and her law degree in 1993 from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. She received seven votes.
Navarro-McKelvey is a circuit judge in the 11th Judicial Circuit (St. Charles County). She was born in 1974 and resides in St. Charles. She earned her bachelor of arts in Spanish and her bachelor of arts, with honors, in political science in 1997 and her law degree in 2000, both from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She received seven votes.
Petersen is an attorney with The Law Office of Susan M. Petersen LLC and legal counsel for the Eastern Missouri Coalition of Police, Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 15, both in St. Charles. She was born in 1972 and resides in St. Louis. She earned her bachelor of science-commerce in accounting in 1995 from Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, and her law degree in 1998 from Saint Louis University School of Law. She received seven votes.
The governor has 60 days to select one member of the panel to fill the vacancy. Should he fail to do so, the Missouri Constitution directs the commission to make the appointment.
The commission is chaired by Chief Justice Mary R. Russell and is composed of Neil Chanter of Springfield, Connie Cierpiot of Lee’s Summit, Timothy M. Drury of St. Louis, Sally Hargis of Springfield, Thomas K. Neill of St. Louis and Kirk R. Presley of Kansas City.
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Update: The governor on December 8, 2023, appointed Rebeca Navarro-McKelvey to fill this vacancy.
Note: Links to application materials typically are disabled after the governor makes his appointment.
Contact: Beth S. Riggert
Communications Counsel
Supreme Court of Missouri
(573) 751-3676