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The Missouri Plan is a method to combine election and appointment of judges. Under the plan, judicial vacances are first selected by independent commissions from all available applicants for that position. Three (3) names are forwarded to the governor who has sixty days to select one. If the governor does not select a one of the three to fill the position within those sixty days, the committee will then make the selection. At the general election soonest after the completion of one year service, the judge must stand in a "retention election". If a majority vote against retention, the judge is removed from office, and the process starts anew1. HISTORY AND SPREAD OF THE PLAN Missouri voters adopted the system by initiative petition in November 1940 after several very contentious judicial elections, which were heavily influenced by the political machine of Tom Pendergast . Most low-level judges in Missouri are selected by other means, except in Kansas City and St. Louis , where the Missouri Plan is mandated by the state constitution for all judicial vacancies. After Missouri adopted this method for selecting judges, several other states adopted it, either in full or in part. The 12 states currently using the Missouri Plan are: Alaska , Arizona , California , Colorado , Indiana , Iowa , Kansas , Missouri , Nebraska , Oklahoma , Utah , and Wyoming . Tennessee uses a modified version of the Missouri Plan called the Tennessee Plan . Florida also uses a complex, modified version of the Missouri Plan. The Missouri Plan is not without critics. There are several alternative ways of filling judicial posts which are used in other states. These include direct elections (either partisan or non-partisan), election by the state legislature, or appointment by the governor with advice and consent of the state senate. Missouri had previously used all of these methods before developing the Nonpartisan Court Plan in 1940. ''See also: State Supreme Court '' EXTERNAL LINKS Explanations of the Missouri Plan
Pro-Missouri Plan links
Anti-Missouri Plan links
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