10 June 2022

ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, will convene court at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri at 2 p.m. Tuesday June 15, 2022, in conjunction with Missouri Boys and Girls State. The docket will take place at the Hyland Arena, and attorneys will argue the appeal in front of the 1,500 students attending both Girls State and Boys State. This marks Lindenwood University’s first time hosting both Girls State and Boys State. The court sessions are open to the public.  

“We are so pleased and honored to be able to hold a special docket for these students,” Chief Judge Sherri Sullivan said. “The court has previously held a docket at Lindenwood University, but this presents our first opportunity to be involved with Girls State and Boys State. The court does not restrict itself to hearing cases only in the main courthouse in St. Louis.”  

Three judges from the Eastern District appeals court will be participating: Sullivan, Judge Kurt Odenwald and Judge John Torbitzky. The judges will sit as a panel of three to hear oral arguments from attorneys involved in a criminal case appealed from the Cape Girardeau County circuit court.

Sullivan was appointed to the court of appeals in 1999 after serving as a circuit judge, an associate circuit judge and an assistant circuit attorney. Odenwald was appointed to the court in 2007 after practicing law in St. Louis at Guilfoil, Petzall & Shoemake. Torbitzky was appointed in August 2021 after engaging in the private practice of law and serving as a law clerk to Judge Zel M. Fischer at the Supreme Court of Missouri.

Missouri Boys State is sponsored by the American Legion, and Missouri Girls State is sponsored by the American Legion Auxiliary. They exist to teach the fundamentals of citizenship, government and politics to high school juniors in the state of Missouri.  Participants learn first-hand the innerworkings of the three branches of state government – the executive, the legislative and the judicial.

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. There are 14 judges on the court, which regularly hears cases in St. Louis, Hannibal, Cape Girardeau and other locations in the Eastern District. 

Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300