JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Throughout Missouri’s history, courthouses have stood at the center of our communities as a place residents can take their disagreements to be resolved in a neutral forum. While more focus tends to be placed on the judges making the decisions, the courts simply could not fulfill their duties without the people whose work supports the courts. In recognition of these dedicated public servants, the Supreme Court of Missouri asks Missourians to join judges and lawyers in celebrating Court Staff Appreciation Week, April 17 through 21.
“Our third branch of government is so much more than the judges or the cases they decide,” Missouri Chief Justice Paul C. Wilson said. “Every day, we rely on the more than 3,000 court clerks, bailiffs, court reporters, juvenile officers, juvenile detention officers and all the other staff who really make up the judicial branch. Theirs are the friendly faces and beating hearts of Missouri’s justice system.
“They kept our doors open during the pandemic, and their commitment to public service continues to shine,” Wilson continued. “In addition to their daily work in processing and managing hundreds of thousands of cases, they are working hard to clear the backlog from the pandemic coupled with unprecedented burdens in implementing criminal history expungements and new adjudications as a result of the recent adoption of Amendment 3. And they are doing it all as the courts, like nearly all businesses, struggle to recruit and retain talented personnel.
“The work our court staff do is incredibly important and often incredibly difficult, and I ask you to proudly recognize their efforts this week,” Wilson said. “To the media: Visit a local courthouse and learn more about a ‘day in the life’ for our staff. To the public: Our court staff are not just the person on the end of a phone call or at a court desk. They may be your friends, your neighbors, the people in line with you at the store. Please take a moment and thank them for their commitment to serving their communities.”