Supreme Court of Missouri

Dates of judicial service

• Appointed to the Supreme Court in October 2011; retained at the November 2012 general election for a 12-year term expiring December 31, 2024; retired in August 2023 pursuant to article V, section 26 of the Missouri Constitution
• Served a two-year term as chief justice from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2021
  
• Appointed in May 2000 as a judge of the Court of Appeals; retained at the November 2002 general election for a 12-year term; served as chief judge July 2005 through June 2006
  
• Appointed in June 1998 as circuit judge in the 21st Judicial Circuit
• Appointed in July 1994 as associate circuit judge in the 21st Judicial Circuit; retained at the November 1996 general election
  

Education

• Bachelor of Arts (major – psychology), Morehouse College, Atlanta, Georgia 
• Juris Doctor, Howard University School of Law

Prior employment

• Law clerk, Hon. Shellie Bowers, District of Columbia Superior Court, 1981-1982
• Office of Circuit Attorney, City of St. Louis, 1984 through 1994
  • First assistant, 1993 through 1994

Professional memberships and activities

• Adjunct professor, Saint Louis University, 1996 to present
• Organized and presented multiple continuing legal education programs
• Member, The Missouri Bar
• Member, Mound City Bar Association
• Member, Lawyer's Association

Civic and charitable activities

• Vice president, Board of Covenant Community Church
• Member, Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.
  

Additional information

• Born August 5, 1953, in St. Louis, Missouri
• Married to Judy P. Draper with one child, Chelsea Westin Draper, JD/LLM