24 August 2021
ST. LOUIS – Pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 10.28(d), the Twenty-First Circuit Judicial Commission releases the following information relating to applicants for the circuit judge vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Michael Burton. There are 19 applicants, of whom eleven indicate they are female, and eight indicate they are male, and four report being minority applicants. Five presently work in the private sector and fourteen are presently employed in the public sector. The applicants’ mean age is 47.2.
Also pursuant to Rule 10.28(d), the commission announces it will interview all 19 applicants:
Monique D. Abby
Eisha Ahmed-Petersen
David L. Bryant
Jason A. Denney
Ellen W. Dunne
Bridget L. Halquist
Ryan C. Hardy
Heather S. Heffner
John R. Lasater
Virginia W. Lay
Erin M. Lueker
Amanda B. McNelly
Krista S. Peyton
Ian C. Simmons
Thomas D. Smith
Dean A. Stark
Matthew R. Waltz
Natalie P. Warner
D. Kimberly Whittle
The commission expects to interview applicants beginning at 10:00 a.m. September 27 and 28, 2021, at the St. Louis County Court Building, Room 205S (Div. 42), 105 South Central, Clayton, Missouri. Interviews are open to the public, subject to available seating and compliance with current CDC guidelines; face masks and social distancing are required. Immediately after the interviews, the commission will meet to select the names of three nominees to send to the governor. Thereafter, Governor Michael L. Parson will have 60 days to appoint one of the three nominees as circuit judge.
The members of the Twenty-First Circuit Judicial Commission are: Sherri B. Sullivan, Chief Judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District and Chairman of the Commission; Tiffany Mapp Franklin, William P. Grant, Al Koller III, and Jeffrey D. Sigmund, secretary of the commission.