The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, which convenes regularly Northwest, will visit the University again March 28 to hear oral arguments in four cases. (Northwest Missouri State University photo)

The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, is returning to Northwest Missouri State University, where it is scheduled to convene court Monday, March 28. 

The arguments, which are free and open to the public, are scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the J.W. Jones Student Union Ballroom.

A three-judge panel, consisting of Western District judges Douglas Thomson and Gary Witt and Supreme Court of Missouri Judge Zel Fischer, will hear oral arguments in four cases on the docket. Summaries of the cases are accessible by clicking this link.

After the oral arguments, the judges will take time to discuss the court system, explain the proceedings and take questions from the audience.

Thomson, who will preside over the proceedings, joined the Western District in 2020. Previously, he served as an associate circuit judge for Nodaway County in the Fourth Judicial Circuit for more than five years.

Witt was appointed to the Western District in 2010 after serving as an associate circuit judge in Platte County’s Sixth Judicial Circuit. Previously, he practiced law in Platte County and served in the Missouri House of Representatives.

Fischer was appointed to the Supreme Court of Missouri in 2008. He served as an associate circuit judge in Atchison County in the Fourth Judicial Circuit and practiced law in Atchison, Holt, Nodaway and Platte counties.

The court, which has convened regularly at Northwest since 2010, typically convenes court in Kansas City. For more than 20 years, however, the court has held dockets in several of the 45 counties in its jurisdiction, which includes all of northwest Missouri and most of central Missouri. The court hears oral arguments outside Kansas City to give individuals an opportunity to observe a part of the judicial system they normally do not see and to familiarize attendants with the court’s role in the judicial system.