(Missouri Digital News) -- On Nov. 6 Missouri voters will have the option to change the way top Missouri judges are selected.
Missouri Constitutional Amendment 3 is the culmination of a multi-year effort by a St. Louis County lawmaker to change the judicial nominating process.
The Missouri Non-Partisan Court Plan has been in place for more than 70 years as a way to eliminate partisanship in the selection of judges in Missouri. The intent of the plan is to have judges selected based on merit instead of political affiliation.
The plan is in charge of selecting judges to the state Supreme Court and Appeals Court. It also applies to lower level courts in St. Louis City and Jackson County. Greene, St. Louis, Clay and Platte counties have adopted variations of the plan to select judges.
The current system removes appellate level judges from having to campaign in partisan elections. Nominees for state appeals court and Supreme Court judges are selected by a seven-member panel composed of three gubernatorial appointees, three lawyers selected by the Missouri Bar Association and the chief justice of the Supreme Court.
"The original Constitution had the proper checks, and currently there is no check on the judicial branch of government as far as how we choose judges to the highest court. The Missouri Plan is currently controlled by one special interest group -- the trail attorneys," said Sen. Jim Lembke, R-St. Louis.
Lembke sponsored the amendment in the General Assembly.
The proposed change would eliminate the chief justice from the panel and give the governor four appointees to the commission instead of three, which would make his appointees the majority.
Lynn Whaley Vogel, president of the Missouri Bar Association, said there is no reason to amend the plan because it has served as a model for other states to eliminate partisanship.
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