The chief judge serves as chief administrative officer of the Court.  The chief judge’s duties include presenting the Court’s budget to the legislature and approving all financial transactions involving the Court.  The chief judge also assigns the 11 judges to panels that will hear appeals and petitions for extraordinary writs, and designates the presiding judges of those panels.  The chief judge works closely with the clerk of the Court in considering and ruling on motions presented to the Court, and presides over the monthly conference of the judges.

Judge Howard was appointed to the Western District in 1996.  He earned an undergraduate degree from Central Missouri Stat University and a law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.  He practiced law in Liberty, Mo, until 1993 when he was appointed as a trial judge for the Circuit Court of Clay County. During his tenure on the court of appeals, he has chaired the Court’s administration committee.

The Western District is one of three districts of the Missouri Court of Appeals.  It serves 45 counties in north, central and western Missouri.  The Court is based in Kansas City but regularly holds sessions at numerous locations throughout the district.