Judging the Judges

On Nov. 2, Greene County voters had their first opportunity to exercise their rights under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan to decide whether to retain county judges.

The plan, which dates back to 1940 and was adopted for use in Greene County in 2008, basically gives voters access to judge evaluations by jurors and attorneys, and makes recommendations as
to who should be added or retained on the bench.

At first glance, voters tapped into the data provided through the plan as they headed to the polls.

Leading up to the last week’s election, a judicial performance evaluation committee recommended that all five of Greene County’s circuit court judges – Jason Brown, Dan Conklin, Mark Fitzsimmons, Dan Imhof and Mark Powell – be retained, and after votes were tallied, they were.

Simply put, the goal of the plan is to make sure voters – many of whom have no interaction with the judges – are able to make more informed choices when they cast their ballots.

“In a very small county, people are just going to know … they’re going to go to church with the guy, run into him in the grocery store,” said Crista Hogan, executive director of the Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association. “But in a county the size of Greene County, it’s impossible for the vast majority of voters to make an informed decision.” Hogan said she puts a lot of trust in the plan because the juror and attorney perspectives could shed light on any problems that may exist.

“Do I think it makes them perform better? You know, I really don’t know,” Hogan said. “I can tell you personally that I try to do a good job every day. If I know there’s a particular day or period of time when I’m held to a level of scrutiny, I may work a little harder. I think it’s human nature when you know you’re being evaluated to step it up a notch.”

How it works
When there is a vacancy on the judicial bench, the 31st Circuit Judicial Selection Commission goes to work, reviewing applications and interviewing candidates. The commission – made up of two lay people appointed by the governor and two lawyers elected by Greene County attorneys along with the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals – then selects three people to be considered for the vacancy to the governor. The governor then appoints someone to the bench.

Between that time and the next general election, held every two years, the Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee goes to work. The committee is made up of 12 people – six attorneys and six nonattorneys – who meet to review evaluations of the judges by Greene County jurors and attorneys. The evaluations are compiled by the University of Missouri-Columbia.

“Every jurist who had been before any of the judges in our county and any attorney who had worked before the judges received a survey – they were different,” said Morey Mechlin, a member of the Greene County Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee. The surveys asked questions about the judges’ knowledge of the law and conduct in the courtroom, she noted.

The committee then takes all of the information into consideration. This time, the committee also took a step that is not required of the plan: “We actually went to court and observed personally on a day when they had a docket,” Mechlin said. “We came back and made a recommendation whether we felt voters would want to retain this judge or not retain this judge.”

The evaluations, along with other information including short biographies of each judge and the committees’ recommendations, are posted online under Judging the Judges by The Missouri Bar at www.mobar.org.

Jack Wax, media relations director of The Missouri Bar, said there were about 30,000 visits to that information prior to the Nov. 2 election.

John Johnston, president of The Missouri Bar, said the Web site was one of several vehicles used to share committee recommendations about judges with voters. Others included press
conferences Sept. 1 throughout Missouri and statewide distribution of 160,000 brochures about the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan and including recommendations.

“Handouts may be all (some voters) wanted, just to see what the committees are saying,” Johnston said, noting that some may not have opted to go online to read evaluations.

Taking out the politics
Hogan pointed out the plan eliminates political party affiliation – and all the money that is poured into election campaigns – from the process.

“In other branches of government, they make campaign promises and they have a voting record and that’s basically what you end up electing them on,” Hogan said. “For the third branch of government, it’s completely inappropriate for them to make promises.”

And while Mechlin said she has no reason to believe there’s been a problem with undue influence or political persuasion for Greene County judges, it’s not outside the realm of possibility.
She points to the millions of dollars spent elsewhere on judicial campaigns.

“Someone has to think they’re going to benefit from that. This removes that possibility. Even the thought of it is removed from the Nonpartisan Court Plan,” she said.

Brent Green, a member of the 31st Circuit Judicial Selection Commission and an attorney at Evans & Green LLP, reiterates the fact that party affiliation should have no role in decisions from the bench, which are based on law and facts.

“What party you’re in really doesn’t determine how good a judge you are. We have good judges that are Democrat and good judges that are Republican,” he said.

The nonpartisan plan process ensures that solid candidates wind up being considered for vacancies, Green said.

“The thing that really sold me on the practice – let’s say a judge dies or resigns, the old procedure was the governor could pick anyone he wanted,” he said. “Under this procedure, you actually vet the candidates and submit them to the governor,” Green said.

Mechlin is firm, too, that the plan’s role is simply to make suggestions and put information in the hands of voters.

“This is just our recommendation. It’s still up to the voters to make their decision,” she said.

Features Editor Maria Hoover contributed to this story.[[In-content Ad]]