Seven of the 18 people who've applied for an appeals court vacancy have Mid-Missouri connections - including six who worked at one time or another for then-attorney general, and now Gov. Jay Nixon, who will make the final appointment.
The state's seven-member Appellate Judicial Commission will interview all 18 applicants in Kansas City on Monday, the commission announced Wednesday afternoon.
Among the applicants are three people from the attorney general's office: Solicitor General James Layton, Deputy Solicitor Jeremiah J. Morgan, and Daniel N. McPherson, an assistant attorney general.
Two former assistant attorneys general also have applied: James R. McAdams, now deputy director of the Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration department, and Boone County Associate Circuit Judge Deborah Daniels.
The other Mid-Missourians seeking the job are: Kenneth J. Cain, an administrative law judge in the state's Labor and Industrial Relations department, and Columbia attorney Harold A. "Skip" Walther, a past Missouri Bar president.
Three of the applicants currently are prosecuting attorneys - Jeff Mittelhauser, Pettis County; Lynn M. Ewing III, Vernon County; and Bryan D. Scheiderer, Chariton County.
And one applicant, Ted R. Hunt, works in the Jackson County prosecutor's office.
Three applicants currently are judges: Daniels, Clay County Circuit Judge Anthony R. Gabbert and Davies County Associate Circuit Judge Daren L. Adkins.
And six of the applicants are private practice attorneys, including Walther.
The appeals court's Kansas City vacancy occurred with this month's retirement of Judge James M. Smart Jr., who served 21 years on the court. Smart was appointed by then-Gov. John Ashcroft in 1991.
Under the Nonpartisan Court Plan, the commission will nominate three of the 18 applicants for Nixon's consideration. The governor then has 60 days to select one of the three to fill the vacancy.