judges

Both states have a non-partisan merit selection system where voters decide whether or not to keep a judge in office through regular retention elections. This year, a multitude of judges — including two on the Missouri Supreme Court — are up for retention on the 2024 ballot.

In November, Missouri voters will get to decide whether two Supreme Court justices will keep their seats. Some progressives want to vote against retaining them because of their opinions on an abortion rights amendment — but it could backfire.

In addition to federal, state and local races, judges will be on the ballot in every Missouri county this November. While some judges are elected in partisan elections, Missouri also has a non-partisan merit selection system.

The Marion County Record search warrant signed by Kansas magistrate Laura Viar appeared to violate federal law protecting journalists from police raids. The Kansas Commission on Judicial Conduct did issue Viars "informal advice" to research appropriate federal and state laws before approving warrants.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody initiated the Aug. 11 raid of the newspaper office, the publisher’s home, and the home of a city councilwoman under the pretense that a reporter committed identity theft by looking at public records. First Amendment attorneys say the reporter committed no crime and Magistrate Judge Laura Viar should have known the search warrants were unconstitutional when she signed them.

It was a confidential tip to the newspaper about the DUI history of a local restaurant owner that set the recent events in motion. But local newspapers report that the judge who signed the search warrant had her own history of drunk driving arrests.

Missouri is appealing a federal judge’s decision striking down the Second Amendment Preservation Act, which allows citizens to file suit for up to $50,000 if they believe that police enforcement of federal gun laws violated their right to keep and bear arms.

Judge Philip Journey of Sedgwick County regularly hears domestic violence cases. He decided to propose a set of bills to the Kansas legislature that he believes would reduce these incidents and help victims.

A judge in St. Louis ruled on Tuesday that Lamar Johnson should be freed after two people provided testimony that absolved Johnson in the 1994 killing of Marcus Boyd.

The court has weighed several contentious issues in recent years, including expansion of Medicaid, municipal court reform and the limit of collective bargaining for state employees. It has agreed to take a case weighing the authority of local and state health officials to issue public health orders.

On Jan. 9, Candice Alcaraz, a former assistant district attorney, was sworn in as the first Black female judge in the history of Wyandotte County, Kansas.

Both Missouri and Kansas have non-partisan merit selection systems, although parts of both states still elect judges to office.