10 January 2002

ST. LOUIS – The Twenty-Second Circuit Judicial Commission (St. Louis city) announced the panel of three nominees to be submitted to Governor Holden to fill the circuit judge vacancy on the St. Louis circuit court created by the resignation of Judge Edward Peek.

Those nominated by the commission are: John F. Garvey, Jr., Angela Turner Quigless and Mark H. Neill.

Garvey graduated with a bachelor of arts from St. Louis University in 1983 and a law degree from Rutger's University Law School in 1986. He began in private practice in 1987 and moved on to the circuit attorney’s office before serving as an alderman for the city of St. Louis from 1991 to 1995. He then went back into private practice until his appointment as an associate circuit judge in 1998.

Quigless received her law degree from the St. Louis University School of Law in 1984 and her bachelor of arts from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981. She was in private practice until 1985, when she became a public defender. She served in the circuit attorney’s office from 1986 until 1991. She then moved to the city counselor’s office, where she served from 1991 to 1995. She served briefly in the United States attorney’s office before her appointment as associate circuit judge in 1995.

Neill received his bachelor of arts from St. Louis University in 1971, his law degree from St. Louis University School of Law in 1974. He has been a practicing attorney for 27 years first with the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department as its legal advisor and in private practice since 1986.

The commission believes these candidates, chosen from a field of extremely qualified individuals, possess those qualities of compassion, intellect and high moral purpose essential to the fair and efficient administration of justice. Each of these people have that trial experience and sense of fairness that the commission knows is required to administer justice to the people of the city of St. Louis and the State of Missouri and proudly presents these names to Governor Holden for his ultimate decision. The commission is confident any of these individuals is capable of serving well and honorably if selected by the governor.

The members of the Twenty-Second Circuit Judicial Commission are: Chief Judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern James R. Dowd, Laura T. Cohen, Nancy Kistler, Andrew O’Brien and Eva Louise Frazer, M.D.

Update: The governor on February 15, 2002, appointed Mark Neill to fill this vacancy.

Contact: Laura Roy, clerk of court

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District

(314) 539-4300