Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, to Convene at UCM

 

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, will convene court Tuesday, Oct. 20, at the University of Central Missouri (UCM). 

The oral arguments will be hosted in the Elliott Student Union Ballroom on the Warrensburg campus. Beginning at 9 a.m., a three-judge panel consisting of Judge Mark Pfeiffer, Judge Cynthia Martin and Judge Doug Thomson will hear oral arguments in four cases. After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system and take general questions from the audience.

Pfeiffer will preside over the proceedings in Warrensburg. He joined the Western District in 2009. Before his appointment to the judiciary, he practiced law in Springfield and Columbia. Martin was appointed to the Western District in 2009. She practiced law in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit before joining the court. Thomson joined the Western District in 2020. Prior to that, he served as an associate circuit judge in Nodaway County in the 4th Judicial Circuit for more than five years. Before becoming a judge, he practiced law in the Maryville area.

The court regularly convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 25 years, however, the court has hosted dockets in several of the 45 counties within its jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears oral arguments outside Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize those attending with the court's role.