The state commission that’s looking for someone to fill a vacancy on the State Supreme Court has submitted the names of three nominees to Governor Holden. Nannette Baker is a circuit judge in St. Louis; Mary Rhodes Russell is a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District; and Clifton Smart III is a shareholder and vice president of Strong Law Firm in Springfield. One of the nominees will fill the vacancy created when Judge Duane Benton was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in St. Louis. Governor Holden has 60 days to select one of the nominees. If he fails to do so, the commission that presented the three names will make the selection.
