Cole County voters chose a second associate circuit judge in 2020, electing Republican Brian Stumpe to the new position that gives the county five judges.
However, the new year will start with only four judges hearing cases.
Gov. Mike Parson has yet to announce who will fill the position being vacated by Associate Circuit Judge Cotton Walker, who won election to fill the judgeship vacated by retiring Circuit Judge Pat Joyce and whose term extends through 2022.
Presiding Judge Jon Beetem said he and his fellow judges have been working to start the year with the four positions they have while also preparing to help the new judge.
"There's a lot of fine, experienced Cole County attorneys who have applied for the position," Beetem said. "The hardest job we have in the courthouse is the associate circuit court judge. The issues of cases and volume of cases is different than what we see at the circuit level."
The Missouri Legislature approved a second associate circuit judge's position for the 19th Circuit in May 2018. That position was removed in 2003, when the third circuit judge's job was added.
The associate circuit court can hear several criminal matters, probate cases, domestic and family law matters, landlord-tenant disputes, and other civil cases.
"We had looked at some numbers and found that Judge Walker was doing the work of 1.75 judges," Beetem said. "For Judge Stumpe to take over that will be a challenge."
Despite the challenge, Beetem said he believes Stumpe has the proper background for the job, having served for more than a year as Jefferson City's municipal judge and working as Jefferson City municipal prosecuting attorney for nearly a decade prior to that.
"While a circuit court judge has 600-700 cases, associate circuit judges have several thousand cases," Beetem said. "We have yet to decide how we'll utilize the associate circuit judges. A lot depends on what their backgrounds are."
During the last week of the year, the judges and court staff moved offices and equipment in preparation for the new associate circuit court.
In October, the Cole County Commission approved a $137,585 contract for remodeling to create a courtroom and office space on the top floor of the Cole County Courthouse. GBH Builders was the only contractor that submitted a bid. The work is to be completed by Jan. 15.
The plan is for Circuit Judge Dan Green to take that space, Beetem said. Walker will take the courtroom across the hall, which had been occupied by Joyce. Beetem will remain in the main or ceremonial courtroom on the third floor, and the two associate circuit courts will be housed on the second floor.
The courts also continue to deal with delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last Monday, the courthouse resumed in-person hearings after a pause because some courthouse staff had tested positive for the coronavirus.
"We hopefully can open up for further proceedings, including possible trials, in a few weeks," Beetem said. "Judge Green, Judge Walker and myself have worked all year under these conditions, and we have a pretty good idea on how to handle things. The big thing we have to deal with is social distancing. I have a courtroom that seats 65, and with the current guidelines I can only have 15 people in there at a time."
Because of COVID-19 precautions, Beetem said, he has to go through a docket in advance to determine who needs to come into the courthouse.
Beetem said jury trials could resume sometime in February.
"If we don't see a surge of new COVID cases after the Christmas and New Year's holidays, then we think that's the time frame for when trials could be held again," Beetem said. "We've got a vaccine, and when that starts getting distributed I think that will increase the public's comfort in participating in a jury trial."