2 November 2022

ST. LOUIS – Students and faculty are expected to attend the court sessions of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, when it holds its docket at Francis Howell North High School at 9:30 a.m. November 10, 2022.  The docket will be held in the high school auditorium, located at 2549 Hackmann Road in St. Charles. The court sessions are open to the public. The court regularly conducts hearings at various locations, including high schools, throughout the Eastern District.

Two judges from the Eastern District are expected to participate in the docket: Chief Judge Michael E. Gardner and Judge Cristian Stevens. Cape Girardeau County Associate Circuit Judge Julia M. Koester will be sitting with the court as a special judge. The judges will sit as a panel of three to hear oral argument from attorneys in a case appealed from the St. Charles County circuit court. After the court session, judges will participate in a question-and-answer session with audience members and students regarding courts, the role of judges and the judicial system. 

Gardner was appointed to the court of appeals in 2020 after serving as a circuit judge for the 32nd Judicial Circuit for five years and practicing law in Cape Girardeau. Stevens, a 1991 graduate of Francis Howell North High School, was appointed to the court of appeals in 2021 after serving as first assistant attorney general, deputy attorney general for the criminal division, an assistant United States attorney and practicing law in St. Louis. In 2020, Koester was appointed as an associate circuit judge for Cape Girardeau County after serving as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Cape Girardeau County.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, is the state’s largest appellate court, with offices in the historic Old Post Office in downtown St. Louis.  The court regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the Eastern District.

Contact: Laura Thielmeier Roy, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300