Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District to hear arguments at the Missouri State University in West Plains

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Chief Judge Mary Sheffield announced today that the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District will convene court at Missouri State University in West Plains to hear a case on a special divisional docket. Beginning at 1 p.m., Wednesday, September 30, 2015, oral arguments will take place on the campus of Missouri State University, in the Melton Hall Auditorium, first floor, Room 112. The court session is open to the public.

Three judges from the court of appeals will be participating: Presiding Judge Daniel Scott from Joplin, Judge Jeffrey Bates from Springfield, and Chief Judge Mary Sheffield from Rolla. The panel of three judges will hear the attorneys’ arguments in the appeal from a trial court case that originated in the Ozark County circuit court.

Judge Scott will preside over the arguments. He was appointed to the Southern District in 2006 and previously practiced law in Joplin for 26 years. Judge Bates was appointed to the Southern District in 2003 and previously practiced law in Springfield for 19 years. Judge Sheffield was appointed to the Southern District in 2012 and was an associate circuit judge in Phelps County and a circuit judge in the 25th Judicial Circuit (Maries, Phelps, Pulaski and Texas counties) for 29 years.

An informative session titled “A Look at Your Missouri Courts” will be conducted by the judges following oral arguments. This presentation discusses the procedure by which a case makes its way through the court system to be heard by the court of appeals. It also notes the history and current processes of the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, regularly convenes at its courthouse in Springfield, the Butler County courthouse in Poplar Bluff as well as other locations within the district’s jurisdiction. The Southern District has jurisdiction over appeals from trial courts in 44 counties and stretches from Jasper County to the west, Mississippi County to the east, the Arkansas border to the south and Maries County to the north.

You may see the Southern District's docket of cases scheduled for argument online.

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Contact: Sandra Skinner, Court Clerk

Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District

(417) 895-6811