An appeals court affirmed the conviction of a Kansas City man for the murders of six women. In the process, the court rejected an invitation to create a rule that interviews by police be recorded – something that a new ...

Tagged with: Jackson County Circuit Court Matt Bartle Missouri Court of Appeals Western District Terry Blair Zel Fischer

The 2009 legislative session ended with an unexpected gift for the courts and the Bar: the last-minute resurrection and passage of a wide-ranging judiciary bill, the first such bill to pass in at least four years.

Tagged with: Jim Lembke Judiciary Committee Chairman Bryan Stevenson Matt Bartle Missouri Legislature omnibus judiciary bill

A bill that includes a number of provisions for the legal community and the judiciary is "very, very dead," the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee said as the 2009 legislative session drew to a close. Sen. Matt Bartle (pictured), R-Lee's Summit, said "valiant efforts" were made to save the bill, but to no avail. Earlier this week, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bryan Stevenson, R-Webb City, presented legislation comprised of provisions that had previously been introduced as standalone legislation. Click here to view a slideshow from the last day.

Tagged with: Matt Bartle Senate Judiciary Committee

The House passed a wide-ranging judiciary bill on Wednesday that includes a controversial plan to convert drug court commissioners into associate circuit judges. But the bill’s sponsor says that provision will likely be taken out of the bill, as several ...

Tagged with: associate circuit judges Bryan Stevenson drug court commissioners Jeff Smith Jolie Justus judiciary bill Matt Bartle

Sen. Jim Lembke (pictured) championed reform of the Nonpartisan Court Plan on the floor of the Missouri Senate on Wednesday. It was the first time the controversial proposal had been debated by the full Senate. Lembke, a Republican from Lemay, took charge in shepherding a proposed constitutional amendment altering the plan used to choose judges in various parts of the state. And the longtime opponent of the current plan could point out opponents of his resolution, many of whom possessed a notebook about an inch and a half thick that featured talking points in support of the current plan.

Tagged with: David Pearce filibuster Jim Lembke Joan Bray Kurt Schaefer Matt Bartle Nonpartisan Court Plan

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee said Monday that he would scuttle a controversial plan to, among other things, convert drug court commissioners into associate circuit judges. Senate Judiciary Chairman Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, said that a Senate draft ...

Tagged with: drug court commissioners Jeff Smith Judiciary Committee Chairman Bryan Stevenson Matt Bartle Nonpartisan Court Plan Senate Judiciary Committee

As debate looms in the Missouri Senate on a constitutional amendment altering the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan, The Missouri Bar is reiterating its opposition to changing the way the state chooses some of its judges. Bar President Tom Burke and President-elect Skip Walther held a press conference on Tuesday morning to skewer proposed changes offered in House Joint Resolution 10. The two attorneys portrayed the alterations as a way of injecting politics into the plan and giving more power over judicial selection to the governor.

Tagged with: Appellate Judicial Commission Charlie Shields Matt Bartle Missouri Bar Missouri Plan Nonpartisan Court Plan Skip Walther Stanley Cox Tom Burke

A pair of Republican senators argued last week they can constitutionally put restrictions on adult businesses they say produce harmful consequences on local communities. Sens. Matt Bartle, R-Lee’s Summit, and Jack Goodman, R-Mt. Vernon, both lawyers, put forward similar bills ...

Tagged with: adult businesses adult video stores Jack Goodman Matt Bartle sex shops

O’Flaherty to chair new group at Stinson Michael O’Flaherty, formerly the Jackson County Director of Assessment, will rejoin Stinson Morrison Hecker’s Kansas City office as of counsel, the firm said today. O’Flaherty, who worked for the county from May 2003 ...

Tagged with: Jackson County Director of Assessment Kansas City Legal Secretaries Association Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association Matt Bartle Michael O'Flaherty Stinson Morrison Hecker