Court of Appeals to Convene on Campus

01/15/2023

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is scheduled to convene court Wednesday, Jan. 25, at William Jewell College. The arguments are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at Yates-Gill College Union on campus.

A panel consisting of Chief Judge Gary Witt, Jewell Class of 1987; Judge Mark Pfeiffer; and Judge Cynthia Martin, Jewell Class of 1981; will hear oral arguments in two of the cases on the docket. For the remaining two cases on the docket, Judge Timothy Flook, Jewell Class of 1989, circuit judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit (Clay County), will join Witt and Martin to hear oral arguments. After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system, explain the proceedings, and take questions from the audience.

Witt will preside over the proceedings. He was appointed to the Western District in 2010. Immediately prior to his appointment, he served as an associate circuit judge in Platte County (in the 6th Judicial Circuit). Previously, he practiced law in Platte County and served in the Missouri House of Representatives. Martin joined the Western District in 2009. She practiced law in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit before joining the court. Pfeiffer was appointed to the Western District in 2009. Before his appointment to the judiciary, he practiced law in Springfield and Columbia. Flook has served as a circuit judge since April 2022. Prior to that, he served as an associate circuit judge in Clay County. 

The court typically convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 20 years, however, the court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in the court’s jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The Court hears oral arguments outside of 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 in the judicial system.