I recently received a sample postal ballot for the upcoming general election. I couldn’t believe how long it took – state and local candidates, state constitutional and statutory amendments, local propositions and judicial nominees.

People often tell me they are confused about the judges’ voting on their ballots. I understand their confusion, because which judges are on your ballot depends on where you live. This is because the Missouri constitution provides for two types of judicial selection and two ways for Missourians to cast their votes on judges.

I always respond by reminding them how important it is that their judges vote, no matter how far down the ballot they are. Unless we’re involved in one of the thousands of legal disputes filed in our courts each year, we often don’t think about judges. And except for the relatively few cases that make headlines in the media, we often don’t hear from judges. Even when we do, it’s confusing because the media can focus more on the politics or policy surrounding the case rather than the legal issues actually raised in the case, which many people might consider to be too much “inside baseball”.

How are judges selected in Missouri?

As I travel to different parts of our state, people often ask me to explain Missouri’s method of electing judges. In short, I tell them this: In the 1930s, the public became concerned about the increasing role of politics, money, and outside influence in judicial selection and judicial decision-making. There was a public backlash against the widespread abuses of the judicial system by the Kansas City “Boss Tom” Pendergast political machine and the political control displayed by the precinct chiefs of St. Louis.

So Missourians placed the “Non-Partisan Selection of Judges Plan” on the ballot by initiative petition, and in November 1940, voters successfully amended the Missouri Constitution. The plan provides for the nonpartisan selection of certain judges based on merit. Initially, the nonpartisan plan applied to state Supreme Court, appellate and circuit court judges in Jackson County and the city of St. Louis. The constitution gives other counties the option to vote on whether to use nonpartisan merit selection rather than partisan elections for their local judges. Since 1940, four counties have decided to exercise this option—Clay, Platte, and St. Louis in the early 1970s and Greene County in 2008.

How do these selection processes work and how are voters involved?

In most Missouri counties — where voters have a better opportunity to get to know their judicial candidates in person — candidates for associate circuit judge and circuit judge run for election under a party label. It’s not uncommon for these judicial races to go uncontested, especially in general elections.

But in Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte and St. Louis, the city of St. Louis, the court of appeals and the state supreme court, justices are nominated and appointed by nonpartisan selection and face voters in “yes-or-no” retention elections.

When there is a vacancy in one of these courts, applicants fill out a detailed application, including their legal experience and community service. Then, members of a nonpartisan judicial commission review those applications and interview the candidates. For appellate vacancies, there is a Judicial Board of Appeals, consisting of three members of the general public appointed by the governor; three attorneys elected by local attorneys in each of the three appellate districts; and the chief justice. Each county – and the city of St. Louis – has its own nonpartisan judicial commission, consisting of two local members of the public appointed by the governor, two attorneys chosen by other local attorneys, and the chief judge of the local appellate district. After public interviews, the commission chooses three well-qualified candidates for the vacancy, and the governor selects one of the nominees to be the new judge.

Voters have the final say in the nonpartisan process. Once the new judge has been in office for at least one year, the judge appears on the next general election ballot. For each of these judges, voters are asked whether they retain—or keep the judge in office for a full term (four years for associate circuit judges, six years for circuit judges, and 12 years for appellate and Supreme Court judges Supreme). Vote by choosing “yes” or “no” on the ballot. For each additional term, a judge must again seek voter approval. If a judge is not retained, then the judge leaves office at the end of December and the trial starts over.

Where do voters find judicial elections on the ballot?

If you live in a county where your local judges are elected in partisan elections, you may find circuit judge candidates listed on your ballot after other statewide elections (for example, state senator and state representative ) and associate circuit judge candidates listed on the ballot after other county-level elections (eg, county commissioner).