Commentary: Expediting civil cases in the circuit court and on appeal

As an election year, 2024 produced no shortage of decisions on ballot issues. These cases highlight practical considerations for practitioners seeking expedited review in both trial and appellate courts.

Fletcher v. Young, 689 S.W.3d 161 (Mo. banc 2024), involved a man who had pled guilty to a felony in 1995 but was pardoned for that offense in 2023. The man sought to be a candidate for county comamissioner at the primary election to be held on August 6, 2024. The election authority (the Cass County Clerk) sought a declaratory judgment as to the man’s eligibility to appear on the ballot. On May 7, 2024, the circuit court entered judgment in favor of the clerk. On May 13, the man filed a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri, challenging the constitutionality of the statute that excluded him as a candidate. On May 23, he filed a motion to expedite the appeal, which the Supreme Court granted the next day. The man’s brief was due May 31, the clerk’s brief was due June 5, and any reply brief was due June 7. Oral argument was set for June 10, and the court affirmed the circuit court’s decision later that day, a mere eighteen days after the filing of the motion to expedite. This timing was driven by a statute providing that the last date for a court to order a person to be placed on the ballot would be June 11, 2024. See § 115.125.3, RSMo.

At the same time that the Fletcher appeal was proceeding in the Supreme Court, Vernon County Republican Committee v. Lee, 692 S.W.3d 439 (Mo. App. 2024), was pending in the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District (because the parties did not raise any constitutional issues). The Vernon County Republican Committee filed an action in circuit court seeking to require the county clerk to exclude eight potential candidates from the primary ballot. On May 9, 2024, the circuit court entered its judgment. On May 16, the clerk filed a notice of appeal and moved to expedite, which the committee opposed. The court of appeals faced the same statutory ballot deadline of June 11 but issued an order noting that the judgment would not become final until June 10: “After the judgment becomes final, we will proceed with an expedited briefing schedule to facilitate the full and final adjudication of this case.” After briefing, the court of appeals dismissed the appeal as moot on July 2, 2024.

Possibly in light of the Vernon County case, the Supreme Court issued a new Rule 81.045 (effective July 1, 2025), providing that the thirty-day period before a judgment becomes final for appeal may be shortened by the trial court or an appellate court if a party would be prejudiced.

This was followed by the most aggressively expedited case in recent memory, Coleman v. Ashcroft, 696 S.W.3d 347 (Mo. banc 2024), relating to a proposed constitutional amendment known as Amendment 3. On August 13, 2024, the Missouri Secretary of State certified that Amendment 3 would be on the November general election ballot. On August 22, opponents filed an action challenging this certification. On Friday, September 6, the case was tried to the court, and that evening the circuit court entered a judgment ordering Amendment 3 to be removed from the ballot. On Saturday, September 7, proponents of Amendment 3 filed a notice of appeal. The Supreme Court ordered simultaneous briefing due on Monday, September 9, and set oral argument for Tuesday, September 10. Hours after the argument, the Supreme Court issued an order reversing the judgment of the circuit court and ordering Amendment 3 to be placed on the ballot.

The Coleman opinion aptly notes that election challenges “must be expedited to — and sometimes very nearly beyond — the limits of thorough advocacy and judicial stamina.” Id. at 353. Four days from the judgment to the decision on appeal might be the appellate speed record for a civil case.

Honorable mention in the category of speedy civil appeals could go to State v. St. Louis County, No. ED 113210 (Mo. App. Jan. 2, 2025), which addressed a dispute between the St. Louis County Executive and the Governor of Missouri as to which official had the authority to appoint a successor to the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, who had been elected to another office and was expected to resign as prosecutor by January 3, 2025. The circuit court issued a judgment in favor of the governor’s power on December 20, 2024, and the county filed a notice of appeal and a motion to expedite the same day. The Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, ordered the appellants’ brief to be due by December 27, the respondents’ brief to be due by December 29, and the reply brief to be due by December 30. The appeal was argued on January 2, 2025, and the opinion was issued the same day. Thirteen days between the issuance of the judgment and the decision on appeal is heroic enough, but that total includes four weekend days, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

The litigants and the courts in these cases should be congratulated for their efforts. When there is a possibility that delay could moot the legal issue that prompted the litigation, these and other cases confirm that Missouri courts are more than capable of handling expedited matters.