19 March 2004

ST. LOUIS – The Twenty-First Judicial Circuit Commission has announced a panel of nominees for the position of associate circuit judge in St. Louis County. The associate circuit judge vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Michael Burton to the circuit bench.

Those nominated by the commission are: Richard C. Bresnahan, Judy P. Draper and Margaret (Peg) Mary McCartney.

Bresnahan received a bachelor degree in business administration from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1967 and a juris doctorate degree from the University of Missouri School of Law in 1973. He has served as the municipal judge for the city of Town and Country from 1986 to the present. He was elected to The Missouri Bar Board of Governors in 1999 and continues to serve in that capacity and was elected to the 21st Circuit Judicial Commission in November 1997 through December 31, 2003. He serves as the city attorney for the cities of Ferguson, Edmundson and Lakeshire and is the prosecuting attorney in the city of Des Peres.

Draper attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, receiving a bachelor degree in labor relations in 1977, and subsequently received her juris doctorate degree from Howard University Law School in 1980 with Law Journal honors. She clerked for the U.S. Dept. of Labor, Office of Administrative Judges, Washington, D.C., after graduating from law school. Draper is currently in private practice in Clayton, handling cases in both the criminal and civil fields, and she serves as municipal judge for the cities of Northwoods and Berkeley.  She also sits on the Congressional Committee for Americans with Disabilities.

McCartney received her bachelor of arts in history from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, in 1987 and her juris doctorate degree from Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, in 1990. From 1990 to 1996, McCartney was an assistant circuit attorney for the St. Louis city circuit attorney's office. From 1996 to 1999, she was the director of career services for Washington University School of Law. Currently she serves as a St. Louis County traffic court commissioner and president of the Women Lawyers Association of St. Louis.

These candidates were selected from a pool of 25 qualified candidates, which made the choices difficult. But the commission believes that all three of these candidates possess the combination of trial experience, intellect, kindness, patience, fairness and resolve necessary to serve the people of St. Louis County as their next associate circuit judge.  The commission is confident that whoever is selected by the Governor to serve will do so honorably.

The members of the Twenty-First Judicial Circuit Commission are: Chief Judge Sherri B. Sullivan of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, Daryl L. Cothran, Thomas M. Lang, Matt McCormick and Gerald Noce.

Update: The governor in April 2004 appointed Judy Draper to fill this vacancy.

Contact: Laura Roy

(314) 539-4300