Nixon appoints 31st Circuit judge

Gov. Jay Nixon yesterday promoted an associate circuit judge to fill a position left vacant by a retirement at the 31st Judicial Circuit Court.

Associate Circuit Judge Jason Brown was selected to succeed Dan Conklin, who retired this month. Brown was one of three finalists for the position picked by the 31st Circuit Judicial Commission - along with Mark Powell, an associate circuit judge, and Margaret Holden, chief administrative law judge for the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

“For the past 10 and a half years, Judge Jason Brown has demonstrated his ability to administer justice from the Greene County bench, and I am pleased to elevate him to circuit judge to continue to ably serve the people of this circuit,” Nixon said in a news release.

As associate circuit judge since January 2005, Brown has presided over criminal and civil cases and served as a volunteer judge for Greene County’s Teen Court program, as well as a member of several judicial committees. Prior to become a judge, he worked in private law practice for 16 years, first in Kansas City and then in Springfield.