Missouri Court of Appeals to convene at Northwest

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is returning to Northwest Missouri State University, where it is scheduled to convene court Monday, March 31.

The session, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled to begin at 1 pm in the JW Jones Student Union Ballroom.

A three-judge panel, consisting of Western District judges Doug Thomson and Tom Chapman and Supreme Court of Missouri Judge Zel M. Fischer, will hear oral arguments in three cases on the docket.

After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system and take questions from the audience.

Thomson joined the Western District in 2020. Previously, he served as an associate circuit judge for Nodaway County in the Fourth Judicial Circuit for more than five years.

Chapman was appointed to the Western District in 2018. Before his appointment, he served for seven years as a circuit judge for the 43rd Judicial Circuit serving Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb and Livingston counties. Before becoming a judge, he practiced law in the Chillicothe area.

Fischer was appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri in 2008. He served as an associate circuit judge in Atchison County in the Fourth Judicial Circuit and practiced law in Atchison, Holt, Nodaway and Platte counties prior to his appointment to the Supreme Court.