16th Circuit court vacancy gets 20 applicants

Daily Record and the Kansas City Daily News-Press, Aug 19, 2008 by Charles Emerick

The first judicial vacancy of the year in Jackson County reversed a short trend that saw a decrease in the number of applicants seeking the bench.

When the deadline passed late Friday afternoon, 20 applicants filed to replace Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Clark, whose last day is Monday.

Clark, currently the second longest sitting judge at the court, will turn 70 next Tuesday. Missouri law requires state judges to step down at that age.

Former Gov. John Ashcroft appointed Clark to the bench in October 1987. Only Judge Edith Messina, appointed in 1984, has been with the court longer.

The 20 applicants for the position were the largest group to seek the court's bench since 2006, when 20 also applied to replace Judge K. Preston Dean. Judge Robert Schieber was selected to fill the division.

Two vacancies in 2007 each saw a somewhat significant slide in the number of those interested.

Early last year, 17 lawyers and judges applied to replace Judge Jon Gray, and only 14 sought to succeed Judge J.D. Williamson last November. Judges Brian Wimes and Brent Powell, respectively, were appointed to replaced Gray and Williamson.

Judicial salaries and political attacks are often blamed for the decrease in the quantity of applicants. Last year, judges in Missouri received their first raises in seven years. Circuit judges now earn approximately $110,000 per year.

Several lawyers and judges who have applied for the last three Jackson County vacancies either did not return messages or declined to comment on whether they applied to fill Clark's vacancy.

The 16th Circuit Judicial Commission will interview the 20 applicants on Aug. 26 at the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District building.

The judicial commission is chaired by Thomas Newton, chief judge of the Western District. Other members are lawyers Tim Dollar and Cindy Reams Martin and lay members Byron Thompson and Anita Russell.

It will be the first time Newton, who became the appellate court's chief judge in July, will lead the commission in the selection process for a judge.

The commission typically picks a panel of three finalists the same day the applicants are interviewed. Those names are then submitted to Gov. Matt Blunt.

Blunt would have until late October to make his selection.