Paul Wilson among 3 nominated for high court vacancy

Paul Wilson is one of three nominees to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court.
Paul Wilson is one of three nominees to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court.

Former Cole County Circuit Judge Paul Wilson is one of three nominees to fill a vacancy on the Missouri Supreme Court.

The state's seven-member Appellate Judicial Commission announced the panel - that also includes Jackson County Circuit Judge Michael Manners and St. Louis County lawyer Stanley J. Wallach - late Wednesday evening, after more than three hours of deliberation.

A news release said the trio was determined on the sixth ballot, with Manners getting five votes and Wilson and Wallach each getting four votes.

Under Missouri's Nonpartisan Court Plan, Gov. Jay Nixon has 60 days to appoint one of the three to the court vacancy created when William Ray Price Jr. retired Aug. 1 - or the commission makes the selection.

No governor, so far, has allowed the choice to fall back in the commission's hands.

The commission's decision came after they had interviewed 18 applicants over more than six hours Wednesday.

Five of the 18 applicants were Mid-Missourians who once served as assistant attorneys general under Nixon: Wilson, State Solicitor General James Layton and James McAdams, all of Jefferson City, and Jeff Harris, Nixon's policy director, and Karen King Mitchell, a Western District appeals court judge, both of Columbia.

Wilson currently is a private practice lawyer, but served one year as a Cole County circuit judge.

See Thursday's News Tribune print or e-edition for additional details.