Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan

The “Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan” is a method for judicial appointments which seeks to buffer the process from overt partisanship. 

It was instituted in 1942 via a constitutional amendment.  Before then, judges were elected or subject to straight gubernatorial appointment.

The plan created a two-step process…

First, would-be judges go before a commission which narrows the applicants to a “panel” of three candidates.

Then, the governor chooses one of those three to fill the judgeship.

The commissions are made of a mix of lawyers elected by the Missouri Bar and citizens appointed by the governor.

Not all judges are subject to the Missouri Plan.  It only applies to the Missouri Supreme Court, the Missouri Court of Appeals, and some Circuit Courts.  A few which were included in the original amendment, others have opted in.  Other circuit court judges are elected.

The plan has been criticized by some conservatives as producing courts that are less conservative than the Missouri electorate.  They bemoaned the Bar’s influence on the process; from time to time, they have proposed to make judges elected.