After a meeting of the 13th Judicial Circuit Court en Banc Tuesday, Judge Jodie Capshaw Asel has been elected to serve as Presiding Judge for the circuit, with her term beginning Jan. 31.
Asel will succeed Judge Gary Oxenhandler, who served as Presiding Judge since March 2010. In that capacity, she will handle budgetary and personnel matters for the court in addition to the general civil and criminal dockets she hears.
"I'm looking forward to it," said Asel. "I think it'll be interesting to delve more into the workings of the court than the way I've done, which is mainly deal with my dockets."
Asel, the Division IV Circuit Judge, has a long and varied career in the Missouri legal system that put her in contact with many other prominent state legal officials. She was born in southeastern Missouri and attended the University of Missouri's Law School in 1968, graduating in 1975.