18 February 2009
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The Appellate Judicial Commission announced today that it is rescheduling interview and meeting dates for vacancies currently pending in the Eastern and Western districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals due to scheduling conflicts. There are three vacancies on the Western District, originally announced January 14, and one vacancy on the Eastern District, originally announced January 27.
Interviews for the three Western District vacancies now will be held Monday and Tuesday, March 2 and 3, and Thursday and Friday, March 12 and 13, all in Kansas City. The commission now will meet beginning at approximately noon Friday, March 13, at the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, 1300 Oak Street, in Kansas City to select a panel of three nominees to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Ronald R. Holliger.
Following the governor’s selection of one of the nominees from this panel, the commission will meet to select, from the same applicant pool, a second panel of three nominees for the vacancy created by Judge Paul M. Spinden’s resignation. Following the governor’s selection of one of the nominees from the second panel, the commission will meet a third time to select, again from the same applicant pool, a third panel of three nominees for the vacancy created by Judge Joseph P. Dandurand’s resignation.
Because the commission does not know when the governor will select a nominee from the first panel of nominees, it cannot announce the date for the commission’s meetings to select the second and third panels at this time. It will do so as soon as feasible following each of the governor's selections.
In light of the scheduling necessary for the vacancies on the Western District, the commission is suspending until at least late summer 2009 the process to fill the vacancy on the Eastern District created by the retirement of Judge Booker T. Shaw. Accordingly, the commission is vacating the application deadline, currently set for February 24, and is canceling the interviews, previously scheduled for March 12 and 13, and the meeting, previously scheduled for March 13.
The commission will reopen the Shaw vacancy at a date to be determined later this year. At that point, the commission will provide additional time for individuals to file applications and will schedule new dates for applicant interviews and the commission’s meeting. All applications for the Eastern District that are filed by the original deadline of February 24 will be held and considered by the commission once the Shaw vacancy is reopened, unless the applicant requests otherwise.
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Contact: Mary Epping
Deputy Communications Counsel
Supreme Court of Missouri
(573) 751-0418