Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Missouri 18th Judicial Circuit Court

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Local Courts
Trial-Courts-Ballotpedia.png
Trial courts and judges
Elections by state
Judicial selection by state
View courts by state:

Local Politics Image.jpg

Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This page is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.



The Missouri 18th Judicial Circuit Court resides in Missouri. Click on the links below to learn more about the court's...

Jurisdiction

This court holds the following jurisdiction:[1]

Missouri circuit courts are courts of original civil and criminal jurisdiction. That is, cases usually begin in the circuit court, which is where trials may occur. Within the circuit court, there are various divisions, such as associate circuit, small claims, municipal, family, probate, criminal and juvenile.[2]

Selection method

See also: Judicial selection in the states
See also: Partisan elections

The 141 judges of the Missouri Circuit Courts are elected to six-year terms in partisan elections, except in the cities of Springfield, St. Louis, and Kansas City. At the end of their terms, judges must face re-election.[3]

The chief judge of each court is elected by the circuit and associate judges from among the sitting circuit judges.[3]

Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:

  • a U.S. citizen for at least 10 years;
  • a qualified state voter for at least three years;
  • a resident of the circuit for at least one year;
  • licensed to practice law in the state; and
  • at least 30 years old.[3]

Judicial elections in Missouri

See also: Missouri judicial elections

Missouri is one of eight states that use partisan elections to initially select judges and then use retention elections to determine whether judges should remain on the bench. To read more about how states use judicial elections to select judges across the country, click here.

Partisan election

Trial judges who were elected in partisan elections may seek re-election at the end of their terms. They must run as a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. Partisan elections decide the majority of Missouri's judges. Judges first run in a party primary in August, with the winner of each primary moving on to the general election.[4][5][6]

Candidates who run unopposed are not printed on the official ballot.[7]

Retention election

Judges on the supreme court and appellate courts are subject to the nonpartisan court plan and run for retention. Trial judges in five counties also run for retention in accordance with this plan. Those counties are St. Louis, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Greene.[4]

See also



External links

Footnotes