Thomson considered for appeals bench
Doug Thomson
Missouri’s Appellate Judicial Commission has announced that 4th Judicial Circuit associate Circuit Judge Doug Thomson, Maryville, is among the applicants for a vacancy on the state Court of Appeals for the Western District.
Thomson said Tuesday that applicants can either nominate themselves for such vacancies or be nominated by someone else. He said that his name was placed in nomination by another attorney, and that the selection process was still in a “very preliminary” stage.
Should Thomson be appointed to the Court of Appeals, he said the governor would appoint his successor in the 4th Circuit.
The seat on the Appeals Court bench became empty with the retirement of Judge Joseph M. Ellis in March.
A release issued by the commission stated that there are nine applicants for the judgeship, including two other trial court judges. The others are attorneys in either the public or private sector.
The commission is to conduct interviews with the candidates on Tuesday, June 7. The interviews are open to the public and will take place at 1300 Oak Street in Kansas City.
Following the interviews, the commission will select three nominees whose names will be forwarded to Gov. Jay Nixon.
The seven-member commission is chaired by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court. The other members include three lawyers elected by the attorneys of the Missouri Bar and three citizens selected by the governor.
If the governor does not appoint one of the three Appeals Court nominees — formally known as panelists — within 60 days, the commission makes the selection itself.
After a 25-year career practicing law, mostly in Maryville, Thomson, a Republican, was elected associate circuit judge in Nov. 2014, when he defeated Democrat Tina Meyer Deiter, also a Maryville attorney, in the general election. His four-year term expires Dec. 31, 2018.
Before his election to the bench, Thomson served as the municipal counsel for several area communities, including Maryville, Graham, Oregon, Maitland, and Grant City.
A 1981 graduate of Maryville High School, Thomson earned a juris doctorate degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1989 and also holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Missouri State University.
The other eight applicants are Daren L. Adkins, Edward R. Ardini Jr., Douglas B. Harris, James R. Layton, Lauren E. Tucker McCubbin, Daniel N. McPherson, W. Brent Powell, and Teresa A. Woody.
