Panel named for St. Louis circuit judgeship

Two associate circuit judges and a lawyer are the nominees to fill a vacancy on the St. Louis circuit bench. The vacancy was created by the appointment of Judge Angela Turner Quigless to the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District.

Those nominated by the 22nd Judicial Circuit Commission are: Associate Circuit Judge Elizabeth Byrne Hogan, Christopher E. McGraugh and Associate Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer.

Hogan was appointed to the associate circuit bench by Gov. Matt Blunt in 2005. Prior to her appointment, she practiced law with her husband at the Joseph M. Hogan Law Firm. She was an assistant prosecutor in Jefferson County and the city of St. Louis, and she also worked at Margo Green & Associates. She received her law degree from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Lansing, Mich., in 1996 and her bachelor’s degree in political science from DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., in 1990.

McGraugh is a principal with the firm of Leritz, Plunkert & Bruning, where he has practiced law since 1992. He also worked for five years with the Missouri State Public Defenders Office, first in St. Louis County and then in the capital litigation unit. He received his law degree in 1987 from Saint Louis University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in history in 1983 from Saint Louis University.

Stelzer was appointed to the associate circuit bench in 2004 by Gov. Bob Holden. During the 11 years before his appointment, Stelzer served in the St. Louis City Counselor’s Office.

He received his law degree in 1992 from Saint Louis University School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in business and economics in 1986 Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.

The commission interviewed 15 applicants during one day of public hearings. On the second ballot, Hogan, McGraugh and Stelzer each received four votes.

The members of the 22nd Judicial Circuit Commission are: Judge Kurt S. Odenwald, chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District, Steven L. Groves, Michael Calvin, Stephen F. Doss and June Bosley-Dabney-Gray.