By Nicole Cooke,
October 2, 2024
The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, will convene court at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22 in the Elliott Student Union Ballroom
at the University of Central Missouri (UCM).
A three-judge panel consisting of Judge Lisa White Hardwick, Judge Cynthia Martin
and Judge Janet Sutton will hear oral arguments in four cases. After the oral arguments,
the judges will take time to discuss the court system and take general questions from
the audience.
Hardwick will preside over the proceedings in Warrensburg. She joined the Western
District in 2001. Immediately prior to her appointment, she served as a circuit judge
in the 16th Judicial Circuit (Jackson County). Previously, she practiced law with
the Shook, Hardy & Bacon law firm in Kansas City. Martin joined the Western District
in 2009. She practiced law in Kansas City and Lee’s Summit before joining the court.
Sutton was appointed to the Western District in 2021. Prior to that, she served as
a municipal judge for the city of Excelsior Springs and as an associate circuit judge
and a circuit judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit (Clay County).
The court regularly convenes in Kansas City. For more than 25 years, however, the
court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in the court’s jurisdiction,
which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears
oral arguments outside of Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe
a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize those attending
with the court’s role in the judicial system.
For more information, contact Kimberly K. Boeding, court clerk for the Missouri Court
of Appeals, Western District, at 816-889-3600.