Judge George Draper III was born in St. Louis. He attended Hamilton Elementary School in St. Louis until 1964, when his family moved to Silver Spring, Maryland, and he completed his education there. In 1977, Draper received a bachelor of arts in psychology in 1977 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. He then attended Howard University School of Law in Washington, D.C., where he received his law degree in 1981. 

Upon graduation, Draper clerked for the Honorable Shellie Bowers of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. From 1984 to 1994, he worked as an assistant prosecuting attorney in the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office. He concluded his service there as the first assistant circuit attorney from 1993 to 1994. 

In July 1994, then-Governor Mel Carnahan appointed Draper as an associate circuit judge in St. Louis County (21st Judicial Circuit). In November 1996, county voters retained him in that position. In June 1998, Carnahan elevated him to circuit judge for the 21st circuit.

On May 16, 2000, Carnahan appointed Draper to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District. Voters retained him in 2002. He became the state’s first African American appellate chief judge, serving from July 1, 2004, through June 30, 2005. While serving with the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, he also served on the Appellate Apportionment Commission. 

On October 19, 2011, then-Governor Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon appointed Draper to the Supreme Court of Missouri. He was the second African-American judge to serve with the Court. Voters retained him in November 2012. On July 1, 2019, Draper became the Court’s chief justice, serving a two-year term through June 30, 2021. During his service with the Court, Draper was chair of the state’s Treatment Courts Coordinating Commission. Additionally, he served as the Court’s liaison for the Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness Committee and the family court committee. 

On August 4, 2023, Draper retired due to reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. After retiring from the Court, Draper returned to where his career began, in the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, becoming the office’s chief training officer in October 2023, allowing him to share his years of legal and judicial experience. 

Draper is a member of The Missouri Bar, Mound City Bar Association, Lawyers Association of St. Louis, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri Asian Bar Association, and the National Bar Association. In 2023, he received The Missouri Bar’s Spurgeon Smithson Award for outstanding service for the increase and diffusion of justice. Since 1996, Draper has a taught as adjunct professor of law at Saint Louis University, teaching trial advocacy. 

Along with his father, George Draper II, Judge George W. Draper III is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Gallery of Legal Pioneers.