The candidates for appointment as a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge include a formerly embattled state legislator, a one-time prosecutor who successfully sued her former employer and the twin sister of a prosecuting attorney.
The judicial vacancy was created this summer when Thomas Albus stepped down from the bench to become the U.S. Attorney for Missouri’s Eastern District.
There are 17 candidates in all for the vacancy. One is Dean Plocher, the former Missouri House Speaker who was the subject of a state ethics investigation in 2024.
A former House staffer filed a discrimination lawsuit against Plocher, accusing him of threatening her job after she helped derail Plocher’s attempt to steer an $800,000 software contract around the standard bidding process. At the same time, Plocher hastily repaid a series of travel bills he had charged to taxpayers after reporters began investigating his spending.
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The suit was later dismissed by a Cole County judge.
Plocher, a Republican from Des Peres, went on to lose the GOP primary for Missouri Secretary of State to Denny Hoskins.
Also in the running for the judgeship is Susan Petersen, a longtime county prosecutor under Robert P. McCulloch who then clashed with McCulloch’s successor, now-U.S. Rep. Wesley Bell.
In January, Petersen garnered $500,000 in an out-of-court settlement in her 2020 lawsuit that accused Bell of discriminating against her because of her age, race and gender.
Petersen, who worked as a county prosecutor for more than 20 years, claimed she was among five white prosecutors older than 40 who either were forced out or quit in Bell’s first term as county prosecutor.
Teresa Bomkamp, the sister of current St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Price Smith, also has her hat in the judicial ring.
Bomkamp was a 25-year veteran of the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s office and now is a lawyer with The Hesse Group.
A judicial commission will conduct interviews for the vacancy beginning Oct. 21. The commission will select three nominees, with Gov. Mike Kehoe making the final choice.
The others candidates are: Jason Denney, Chastidy Dillon-Amelung, Mondonna Ghasedi, William Halaz, Bridget Halquist, Susan Joste, Daniel Kertz, Nicolette Klapp, Julia Lasater, Curtis Niewald, Krista Peyton, Thomas Smith, Stephen Strum and Ryan Turnage.
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