Commission submits nominees to fill Court of Appeals vacancy

Posted to Police Beat by Katherine Miller at 6:24 p.m., March 16, 2009

The Appellate Judicial Commission has submitted the names of three nominees to fill the first of three vacancies in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western district to Gov. Jay Nixon, a Missouri Supreme Court news release stated.

On Jan. 15, Judge Ronald R. Hollinger resigned in order to return law practice, leaving a vacancy in the court, the news release stated.

The three panel members include Jacqueline A. Cook, Cynthia L. Reams Martin and Mark D. Pfeiffer.

Nixon has 60 days to select one of the three. If he does not make a decision by that time, the commission will make the appointment, as specified by the state constitution.

“For decades the Missouri nonpartisan court plan has served as a model judicial selection process for states around the country,” Nixon said in a statement. “This method of selecting judges has stood the test of time by minimizing the influence of politics in the administration of justice.”

Cook, 58, of Belton, is the presiding judge of the 17th Judicial Circuit, which includes Cass and Johnson Counties. She attended Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg, receiving a bachelors degree in history 1980. She received her master’s degree in history from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and her law degree from UMKC in 1989, according to the release.

Martin, 49, practices law in Lee’s Summit. She attended William Jewell College in Liberty, receiving bachelor’s degrees in communication and psychology, summa cum laude, in 1981. She received her law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she was valedictorian, the news release stated.

Pfeiffer, 41, of Columbia, is a shareholder in the Columbia law firm of Bley and Pfeiffer PC. He attended Westminster College in Fulton, earning a bachelor’s degree in accounting, magna cum laude. He received his law degree in 1991 from MU.

Nixon said in a statement that he looks forward to meeting each of the three candidates.

“The individuals whose names I received today are bright, qualified legal minds, and I look forward to interviewing each of these nominees personally,” Nixon said in a news release.

Once the vacancy has been filled, the Appellate Judicial Commission will repeat the process of selecting three candidates from the same applicant pool. The governor will need to appoint two more judges in order to fill the vacancies of judges Paul M. Spinden and Joseph P. Dandurand, the news release stated.

The dates of the commission’s meetings will not be determined until the governor has made his first selection.