A long list of judges will go before Missouri voters this election, who will decide Nov. 3 whether they keep their jobs.
All voters in the state will decide whether to retain a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court. Voters in the northwestern and central part of the state will decide if an appellate court judge will keep her seat, while Kansas City-area voters will choose if 13 circuit and associate circuit court judges will stay on the bench.
Missouri’s courts have heard a number of high-profile cases, like challenges over the state’s abortion ban and redistricting. Ultimately, the Republican-backed redistricting plan was escalated to the U.S. Supreme Court three times.
In 1940, Missouri enshrined a system to remove political influence from its top courts called the Missouri Plan, or Non-Partisan Court Plan. But a growing number of Republicans are now calling for the Missouri Plan to be overturned after losing the redistricting court battle and being forced to put the GOP-backed gerrymandered congressional map up to voters.
To find out which judges are on your ballot, go to the Missouri Secretary of State website or your local election board’s website
There are 46 judicial circuits that cover Missouri’s 114 counties and St. Louis. Circuit courts handle major civil lawsuits and severe criminal charges. Missouri’s court directory will show you which district, circuit and division serves you.
This guide will give you information on each judge on the Kansas City metro's ballots and the judicial process.
Click on a link below to see more details on the judges that are up for retention, and more details about the process.
- Missouri Supreme Court
- Court of Appeals, Western District
- 16th Judicial Circuit, Jackson County
- 6th Judicial Circuit, Platte County
- 7th Judicial Circuit, Clay County
- 16th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Jackson County
- 6th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Platte County
- 7th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Clay County
- What is the Missouri Plan, and why do Republicans want to overturn it?
- What happens if a judge isn’t retained?
- How was this guide made?
Missouri Supreme Court
Paul C. Wilson
Who appointed him?
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, in 2012.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
What else?
Voters retained Wilson in 2014. He was the Chief Justice of the Missouri Supreme Court from July 2021-June 2023.
Prior to serving on the Supreme Court, Wilson served as a circuit judge for the 19th Judicial Circuit in Cole County and was an assistant attorney general for Missouri.
Wilson dissented in a March 2026 ruling by the Missouri Supreme Court that ruled the state legislature could redistrict the state’s congressional maps in the middle of a decade.
He wrote the majority opinion in a September 2024 ruling that kept the constitutional amendment to legalize abortion on the ballot. The measure passed in November that year.
Wilson authored the unanimous opinion in a July 2023 ruling that rejected former Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s efforts to use the ballot language to exaggerate the potential cost of the abortion rights amendment.
Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District
Lisa White Hardwick
Who appointed her?
Former Democratic Gov. Bob Holden, in 2001.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appeals overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court:
1 of 9 published opinions (11%) since 2022.
What else?
Voters retained Hardwick in 2014. She was chief judge of the appeals court from 2010-2012.
Prior to serving on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Hardwick was a circuit judge for the 16th Judicial Circuit in Jackson County. Before that she served on the Jackson County Legislature.
Hardwick was the first Black woman appointed to the state appeals court. She was also the first Black lawyer at Shook, Hardy & Bacon, where she was later the first Black partner.
She was one of three judges considered by then-Gov. Eric Greitens for the state Supreme Court in 2023.
Hardwick wrote the unanimous opinion in an October 2025 ruling that upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit that claimed former Missouri House Speaker Dean Plocher retaliated against a legislative staffer who reported allegations of misconduct.
She was the presiding judge over an October 2023 appeals court decision that determined then-Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft wrote ballot language for measures to restore abortion rights that were “replete with politically partisan language.” The Supreme Court later declined to hear Ashcroft’s argument on appeal.
16th Judicial Circuit, Jackson County
Kenneth R. Garrett III, Division 2
Who appointed him?
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, in 2013.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
1 of 13 published opinions (8%) since 2022.
What else?
Voters retained Garrett in 2014 and 2020.
Garrett served as an associate circuit judge in Jackson County from 2010-2013. He was also an assistant prosecuting attorney and assistant attorney general. He worked closely with the Kansas City Police Department’s gang unit and lectured on criminal justice at the police academy.
He is currently assigned to civic, domestic and criminal cases.
In 2024, Independence resident Michael Deblois, who is white, made threats to Garrett that included racial slurs. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison after he was convicted of tampering with a judicial officer and harassment motivated by discrimination to frighten or disturb another person.
This year, Garrett sentenced a man to 15 years in prison for shooting at police officers during a high speed chase. In 2021, Garrett sentenced an ex-cop to probation after he pleaded guilty to two counts of child pornography.
Patrick C. Edwards, Division 4
Who appointed him?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2024.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
Prior to serving on the 16th circuit court, Edwards was an assistant United States attorney for the Western District of Missouri, where he supervised a team dedicated to prosecuting narcotics and violent crime cases. He was also an assistant prosecuting attorney for Jackson County.
This is the first time Edwards is up for retention. He is currently assigned to civic, domestic and criminal cases.
Edwards issued a preliminary injunction this year that paused Kansas City’s proposed ban on mini-liquor bottles and single-serve beers in certain Kansas City neighborhoods.
He is the judge overseeing a whistleblower case brought against Kansas City. Keema McCoy, a former top aide to Kansas City Mayor Pro Tem Ryana Parks-Shaw, alleges that the city retaliated against her after she brought legal concerns related to Parks-Shaw’s mayoral campaign.
Lauren D. Barrett, Division 14
Who appointed her?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2024.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
Barrett was an associate circuit judge for Jackson County from July 2023 to September 2024. She was previously the chief trial assistant for the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and assistant attorney general for Missouri.
This is the first time Edwards is up for retention in her current position. She is currently assigned to probate cases.
Barrett ruled in December of 2025 that Kansas City could move forward with its crackdown on predatory towing, after a towing company owner filed a lawsuit to try and stop the city’s ordinances.
In January of this year, she sentenced a 25-year-old Kansas City man to 20 years in prison for a fatal shooting in 2024.
Cory L. Atkins, Division 17
Who appointed him?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2019.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
3 overturned (21%) and 2 mixed outcomes of 14 published opinions since 2022.
What else?
Voters retained Atkins in 2020. He is currently assigned to civil, domestic and criminal cases.
Atkins served as an associate circuit judge from 2018-2019. Prior to that, he was an assistant attorney general for Missouri. He was also a national trial attorney at a practice that focused on negligence and products liability cases.
Earlier this year, Atkins ruled that a recall vote against former Independence City Council member John Perkins could continue after he sued to stop the vote from taking place. Voters ousted Perkins in September, the first recall in the city's history.
Atkins overturned a verdict that gave a Blue Springs transgender student one of the biggest jury awards in the country after the student sued over being denied access to the boys’ locker rooms and bathrooms. Atkins’ 2022 ruling declared that the student failed to prove an essential element of the case. In 2025, the Missouri Supreme Court upheld Atkins’ ruling.
Kevin D. Harrell, Division 18
Who appointed him?
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, in 2012. He is the current presiding judge for the court.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
2 overturned (13%) and 2 mixed outcomes out of 16 published opinions since 2021.
What else?
Voters retained Harrell in 2014 and 2020.
Prior to his appointment, Harrell was an administrative family court judge and chief deputy prosecuting attorney for the Jackson County prosecutor’s office.
Harrell sentenced Dominic M. Miller to two years in prison with credit for time served in March of 2026. The 20-year-old was accused of firing the fatal shot that killed 43-year-old Lisa Lopez Galvan during the 2024 Chiefs parade shooting.
Harrell was set to preside over the innocence petition of Kevin Strickland, who was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years over a crime he did not commit. Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court removed all Jackson County judges from the case over impartiality.
6th Judicial Circuit, Platte County
Myles A. Perry, Division 6
Who appointed him?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2024. He is the current presiding judge for the court.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
This is the first time Perry is up for retention.
Prior to his appointment, Perry was an assistant prosecuting attorney and trial team leader in the Platte County prosecuting attorney’s office from 2003-2024.
Perry retired from the United States Army Reserve in 2019. He began his service in 1990 and served as an infantry officer and later a judge advocate both in active duty and in the reserve.
This year, Perry sentenced a former Kansas City police officer to life in prison for shooting and killing a 71-year-old man in the Walmart parking lot.
Perry ruled in 2024 that the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department had to release body camera videos and other investigative materials from two fatal police shootings after the local government sued to keep them secret.
7th Judicial Circuit, Clay County
David P. Chamberlain, Division 4
Who appointed him?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2019.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
2 overturned (11%) and 4 mixed outcomes out of 19 published opinions since 2023.
What else?
Voters previously retained Chamberlain in 2020. He served as the presiding judge of the 7th circuit from 2021-2022.
Before his appointment, Chamberlain served as associate circuit judge for the 7th circuit from 2008-2019. Prior to that he was in private practice.
Chamberlain is presiding over the trial for accused killer and rapist Timothy Haslett, who is charged with first-degree murder, first-degree rape, four counts of first-degree sodomy, first-degree kidnapping, two counts of second-degree assault and first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He was arrested in October 2022 after a 22-year-old Black woman escaped what she said was a torture chamber in the basement of his Excelsior Springs home. The case has been delayed until 2027.
Chamberlain presided over the trial of Andrew Lester, who shot Ralph Yarl in 2024 when he rang Lester’s doorbell by mistake. Lester pleaded guilty but later died while awaiting sentencing.
In December of 2025, Chamberlain sentenced Joshua Rocha to death for the killing of a North Kansas City police officer.
16th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Jackson County
Abbie Rothermich, Division 25
Who appointed her?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2023. She was appointed to Criminal A Rotation as a special assignment in 2025.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
This is the first time Rothermich is up for retention. She is currently assigned to civil and family court.
Prior to her appointment, Rothermich was the deputy chief of the employment litigation division and was assistant attorney general in the Missouri attorney general’s office. Before that, she was an attorney at Legal Aid of Western Missouri.
R. Travis Willingham, Division 26
Who appointed him?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2019.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
0 out of 2 published opinions (0%) since 2023.
What else?
Voters retained Willingham in 2022. He is currently assigned to criminal, civil and family court.
Prior to his appointment, Willingham was chief deputy county counselor for Jackson County, where he was in charge of all of the county’s litigation. Before that he handled civil litigation, criminal law, civil rights litigation and federal Indian law at a private practice from 2004-2011.
Kea S. Bird-Riley, Division 27
Who appointed her?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2020.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
1 overturned of 1 published opinion (100%) since 2022.
What else?
Voters retained Willingham in 2022. She is currently assigned to criminal court.
Prior to her appointment, Bird-Riley was a family court commissioner in the 16th circuit. Before that she was an associate attorney at Krigel & Krigel, P.C., a staff attorney at Jackson County CASA and an associate attorney at Stauffer & Nathan, P.C.
Mary Frances Weir, Division 31
Who appointed her?
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, in 2013. She also presides over the criminal domestic violence diversion docket for all such cases in Jackson County.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
Voters retained Weir in 2014, 2018 and 2022. She is currently assigned to civil and family court.
Prior to her appointment, she worked as a contract attorney with Hope House Inc., and provided legal representation to victims of domestic violence and their children. Weir also represented juveniles and their parents in Jackson County Family Court cases through her work as “of counsel” at the Raith Law Firm. Weir was also an assistant public defender for Missouri.
6th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Platte County
Susan M. Casey, Division 4
Who appointed her?
Former Republican Gov. Mike Parson, in 2024.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
Data not available.
What else?
This is the first time Casey is up for retention.
Prior to her appointment, Casey was a senior law clerk and staff attorney for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. She was also a senior law clerk for the Missouri Court of Appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court. Casey also served as an adjunct assistant professor of law at the University of Notre Dame.
Casey was named vice president of the Missouri Press-Bar Commission this month. She has a master’s degree in journalism, which she got before earning her law degree, and previously worked as a freelance writer for The Kansas City Star.
7th Judicial Associate Circuit Court, Clay County
Karen L. Krauser, Division 6
Who appointed her?
Former Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon, in 2012.
Does the Missouri Bar Association recommend retention?
Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review committee recommends that the judge should be retained.
Appealed rulings overturned by the Missouri Court of Appeals:
1 overturned (50%) out of 2 published opinions since 2023.
What else?
Voters retained Krauser in 2014, 2018 and 2022.
Prior to her appointment, Krauser was the Clay County deputy chief prosecuting attorney and served as a municipal judge in both Excelsior Springs and Platte Woods.
What is the Missouri Plan, and why do Republicans want to overturn it?
Under the Missouri Plan, judges apply for their positions. A judicial commission of lawyers helps choose three candidates for the state’s Supreme Court, appeals courts and some circuit courts. The governor then chooses to appoint a judge from that list.
The Missouri Plan is also used to choose judges in Jackson, Clay, Platte, St. Louis and Greene counties as well as the City of St. Louis. Only four judges have lost retention elections since the 1940s.
The plan has been attacked many times since it was created. Most recently, Republican lawmakers tried to overhaul the plan in 2012 to give the governor more control. That effort failed, but Republicans are once again trying to overturn the nonpartisan way the state appoints judges after the party’s redistricting effort failed.
Republicans gerrymandered Missouri’s congressional districts at President Donald Trump’s request in an effort to unseat longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver II, who represents Kansas City.
But voters gathered enough signatures to put the gerrymandered map on hold and place a referendum on the ballot that will allow residents to decide if the redistricting plan will continue. After a hard-fought battle between voters and Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, who tried to keep the referendum off the ballot, the 2022 congressional map will be used and voters will decide the future of redistricting in November.
That saga has led many Missouri Republicans to call for an end to the Missouri Plan. U.S. Rep. Jason Smith, a Republican who represents southern Missouri, called for the state to switch to electing its Supreme Court judges. Hoskins’ official secretary of state X account reposted Smith’s urging.
In a post on X, Gov. Mike Kehoe said he was disappointed in the “unelected” judges’ decisions on redistricting and said they have a “lack of respect for the legislative process.”
What happens if a judge isn’t retained?
After a judge is appointed, residents can then choose whether to retain those judges in their positions. Those elections happen after the first year of the judge’s appointment and then at the end of each term.
Each judge must receive a majority vote to be retained. If they don’t get that, they must vacate their judicial seat at the end of the term. The judicial commission will then nominate three candidates for the position and the governor will choose one to appoint to fill the vacancy.
Supreme Court and appellate court judges serve 12-year terms, circuit judges serve six-year terms and associate circuit judges serve four-year terms.
The Missouri Court of Appeals is above circuit courts, and has three districts: eastern, southern and western. Appeals courts review decisions from circuit courts when one side challenges the outcome of a case. The Missouri Supreme Court is the state’s highest court and hears cases challenged from the appeals courts.
How was this guide made?
Most of the information on the judges up for retention comes from publicly available sources, including court websites, law firm profiles and the Missouri Bar’s judicial review. News articles or press releases published throughout the judges’ appointment, and in significant cases, were also used.
Missouri courts don’t publish statewide data on the total number of appeals affirmed or reversed. Information on the number of appeals overturned comes from Westlaw, a legal research tool widely used by lawyers, which KCUR accessed in partnership with STLPR. The data doesn’t consider unpublished decisions, which appeals courts often use when they uphold a lower court’s ruling.
The number of appeals overturned reflects only a judge’s share of cases that were appealed and decided by a higher court in a published opinion since 2021. The data does not include every ruling the judge has made. An appeal can end with the lower court’s decision affirmed, reversed or mixed, which means part of the decision was affirmed and part was reversed. Most rulings judges issue are not appealed.
A high reversal rate does not necessarily equate to bad rulings. The Missouri Supreme Court chooses which cases to take, similar to the U.S. Supreme Court on the federal level. Data shows the U.S. Supreme Court is more likely to overturn decisions of appellate courts because of this. The reversal rate can also reflect philosophical differences: A more liberal judge may be reversed more often by a more conservative appeals court, or vice versa.
The recommendations on whether to retain each judge come from the Missouri Bar, the statewide organization for lawyers. A 21-member Judicial Performance Review committee makes the recommendations. The committee is made up of nine bar members, nine citizens from pertinent counties and a retired judge from each of the district court of appeals.
The committee evaluates if the judges clearly explain their decisions, make rulings based on law and facts, and show proper courtroom demeanor. To complete their recommendations, the committee surveys lawyers and jurors about the judges and decides if the judges meet performance standards. This year, all 50 Missouri judges up for retention met the criteria.
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