Opponents of Missouri's nonpartisan court plan have cleared the first hurdle to have the system eliminated.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan announced Tuesday that her office has approved an initiative petition to repeal the judge-appointment system, currently in place for the state Supreme Court and Court of Appeals as well as courts in St. Louis City and Jackson, Platte, Clay, St. Louis and Greene counties.
Under the system, also known as the Missouri Plan, a five-member panel nominates three candidates for any vacant bench spot, and the governor selects from the three nominees. Voters then reapprove the appointed judge within a year of their appointment.
Proponents of the system, which was just added in Greene County in November, say it removes politics from the selection process by having a panel of county residents, attorneys and the chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals' Southern District nominate candidates.
Opponents, however, say the panel has too much power over the selection process and is not open enough in how it makes selections.
The petition, submitted by longtime Missouri Plan opponent Better Courts for Missouri, seeks to replace the Missouri Plan with a system in which the governor appoints judges for open bench seats, with advice and consent from the Missouri Senate.
For the petition to be successful, it needs signatures equal to at least 8 percent of the total votes cast in the 2008 governor's election from six of the state's nine congressional districts. Signatures are due to Carnahan's office by May 2 to get the item on the ballot in 2010.
The first southwest Missouri location of EarthWise Pet, a national chain of pet supply stores, opened; Grey Oak Investments LLC relocated; and Hot Bowl by Everyday Thai LLC got its start.
