Public Service: Mary Elizabeth Ott

Circuit Judge
21st Circuit, Division 7
St. Louis County

Judge Mary Ott spent more than 20 years in solo practice concentrating on criminal defense and domestic relations at the trial and appellate levels in state and federal systems before being appointed to the associate bench in St. Louis County in 2008 and nominated to the circuit court in 2018.

She served as presiding judge of St. Louis County from mid-2021 through December 2024, a tenure during which she developed a new strategic plan for the circuit, renewed its mission statement, decentralized multiple dockets, added judicial officers and launched annual legislative outreach lunches. She simultaneously navigated COVID-19, new redaction requirements and marijuana legalization across the circuit.

Ott serves on the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Criminal Instructions and Procedure, the Missouri Supreme Court Legislative Committee and the Circuit Judges Legislative Committee. The guidance she offers on judicial decision-making in uncertain moments, she has said, is simple: “Do what seems fair, because that is generally what the law is.”