Broniec named to Eastern District bench

Gov. Mike Parson has named Kelly C. Broniec, an associate circuit judge in Montgomery County, to the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District.

Broniec succeeds Judge Roy L. Richter, who retired earlier this year. Richter also previously served as a Montgomery County judge. Broniec initially was appointed to the county bench to fill Richter’s unexpired term when he joined the Court of Appeals in 2006.

Prior to joining the bench, Broniec had served as the Montgomery County prosecuting attorney since 1999. She previously had been a prosecutor in Lincoln and Warren counties after earning her law degree in 1996 from the University of Missouri.

Broniec would be one of four judges on the Eastern District to come from the rural portions of the 25-county appellate district. Her appointment also means that the 14-member Eastern District now has an equal number of male and female judges.

The Appellate Judicial Commission selected Broniec as a candidate for the seat on Sept. 4, along with St. Louis Circuit Court Michael W. Noble and HeplerBroom partner Kathleen S. Hamilton. They were among 18 applicants interviewed for the position.

Broniec marks Parson’s fifth appointment to the Court of Appeals’ three districts since he took office in 2018.