4 October 2012
ST. LOUIS – The 22nd Circuit Judicial Commission announced the panel of three nominees to be submitted to Governor Nixon to fill the associate circuit judge vacancy in St. Louis created by the appointment of Judge Michael Stelzer as circuit judge for St. Louis.
Those nominated by the commission are Teneil L. Kellerman, Christopher E. McGraugh and Joan K. Miller.
Kellerman graduated from Saint Louis University School of Law. Her professional career has been devoted to the trial of criminal and civil cases. She currently practices with Growe Eisen Karlen in the areas of family law, personal injury, criminal defense and commercial litigation.
McGraugh is a principal attorney with the firm of Leritz, Plunkert & Bruning PC, which he has been with since 1992. He has been an attorney for 25 years. McGraugh also worked for five years with the state public defender’s office. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Saint Louis University and his law degree from Saint Louis University School of Law.
Miller practices law at Joan K. Miller LLC. She graduated in 1980 from Smith College Northampton, Massachusetts, with a bachelor of arts degree in government and in 1995 from Saint Louis University School of Law. She has been a prosecutor with the St. Louis circuit attorney’s office, an attorney at Unigroup Inc. and is currently in private practice.
The commission interviewed 29 applicants during two days of public hearings. Under the Missouri Constitution, the governor has 60 days to select one of these three nominees to fill the vacancy. The commission believes these three candidates, chosen from a field of extremely qualified individuals, possess those qualities essential to the fair and efficient administration of justice. The commission is confident that all of these individuals are capable of serving well and honorably if selected by the governor. On the second ballot, Kellerman, McGraugh and Miller each received four votes.
The members of the 22nd Circuit Judicial Circuit Commission are: Judge Gary M. Gaertner Jr., chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District; June Bosley-Dabney Gray; Stephen F. Doss; Steven L. Groves; and Michael Calvin.
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Update: The governor on November 8, 2012, appointed Christopher McGraugh to fill this vacancy.
Note: Links to nominees' applications typically are disabled after the governor makes his appointment.
Contact: Laura Roy
Clerk of the Court
Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District
(314) 539-4300