Trio of finalists chosen for local judge vacancy

The state’s Appellate Judicial Commission submitted three nominees to Gov. Mike Kehoe for a vacant judgeship on the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District.

Judges Joshua Christensen, Joseph Hensley and Amy Westermann were selected unanimously as the three nominees after hours of public interviews, deliberations and six rounds of balloting, according to a news release. Kehoe has 60 days to select one member of the panel to fill the vacancy left by Judge Don Burrell, who retired in March.

Christensen is a circuit judge in Greene County; Hensley is a circuit judge and presiding juvenile judge in Jasper County; and Westermann is the managing commissioner of the administrative hearing commission in Jefferson City.

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District, which has its district main offices and courtroom in Springfield, comprises seven judges who cover cases across 44 southern Missouri counties, according to its website.