A host of candidates and issues await voters a week from today, including decisions on whether judges chosen through the Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan should be retained.
Judges appointed through the Non-Partisan Court Plan stand for retention periodically. Voters are given the choice of retaining or not retaining judges in the metropolitan circuits as well as the appeals courts and the Supreme Court.
Jefferson City lawyer Dale Doerhoff says the Missouri Bar surveyed lawyers and lay people about the judges up for retention. The performance reviews outline detailed evaluations of each judge. It also gives the bottom line: a recommendation either that the judge be retained or not.
All Missouri voters will have the chance to approve Governor Blunt’s appointment of State Supreme Court Judge Patricia Breckenridge. Blunt appointed Breckenridge to the court in September of 2007.
Also on the ballot for retention will be Eastern Missouri Appeals Court judges Robert Dowd, Jr., Kurt Odenwald and Roy Richter. Southern Missouri Appeals Court judges Gary Lynch and Daniel Scott also are on the ballot for retention.
Doerhoff says the Missouri Bar evaluation tries to keep voters focused on overall performance.