What is the Missouri Plan?
Missouri’s Nonpartisan Court Plan, also known as the Missouri Plan, is a judicial selection process designed to reduce political influence in the appointment of judges. Implemented in 1940, the plan aims to ensure that judges are chosen based on merit rather than political affiliation. Under this system, when a judicial vacancy occurs, a nonpartisan judicial commission reviews applications and selects a panel of qualified candidates. The Governor then appoints a judge from this panel. Every four years, the appointed judge faces a retention election, where voters decide whether the judge should continue to serve. This process applies to the Missouri Supreme Court, the Missouri Court of Appeals, and circuit courts in each of these counties: Clay, Greene, Jackson, Platte, St. Louis, and St. Louis City.
