Lisa White Hardwick. Benjamin A. Lipman. W. Brent Powell.
One of these Missourians will be the Missouri Supreme Court's newest judge.
Gov. Eric Greitens has until the end of April to appoint one of them to fill a vacancy on the high court, created when Judge Richard Teitelman died last November.
The Appellate Judicial Commission late Wednesday nominated the three from among 30 applicants, after interviewing all candidates for about 20 minutes each on Tuesday and Wednesday.
All the applicants were asked during their interviews why they wanted to be appointed.
"I spent 15 years in (private) practice, 17 years on the bench, and I think I have a pretty good idea how to best spend the next 14 years I have to serve in the Judiciary," said Hardwick, 56, an appeals court judge in Kansas City since May 2001 and a Jackson County circuit judge before that.
"It's the nature of the work I love - it's the decision-making piece of it (and) it's my understanding that the constitutional role of the court is to apply the law not about making the law."
Judges are required to retire at 70, although they can serve as senior judges by appointment.
Lipman, 50, a St. Louis attorney, on Tuesday explained: "For me, this is an act of public service - it's something that I'm very passionate about.
"(I have) an intellectual curiosity and passion for the law, together with a commitment to the rule of law, (which) needs to be what guides us."
And Powell, 46, a Jackson County circuit judge, told the commissioners Wednesday: "I believe that I have the breadth of experience that makes me well-qualified to serve on the court.
"I've been a trial judge, now for approximately nine years, and I think I have a healthy respect and perspective of the litigation process."
Missouri's Constitution requires the governor to make the appointment within 60 days after the list of nominees is submitted, or the
commission makes it.
In the 76 years since Missouri voters first approved the Nonpartisan Court Plan in 1940, some governors have questioned the nominations sent to them, but no governor has failed to make an appointment.
The plan covers the Supreme and appeals courts, and also operates in St. Louis City and St. Louis, Jackson, Clay, Platte and Greene counties - with local commissions for each of those local courts.
Under the plan, the commission takes applications, then interviews those seeking to be appointed.
For years, the commissioners interviewed the applicants separately and privately. But then-Chief Justice William Ray Price opened the interviews to the public several years ago. This week's interviews were the third round of open interviews for a Supreme Court vacancy.
Once the interviews are finished, the commission meets in a closed session to select three of the applicants to be considered by the governor, who must appoint one of the three.
It's a direct appointment, with no state Senate confirmation required.
Three Jefferson City applicants for the vacancy were state Rep. Jay Barnes and Cole County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem, who both were interviewed Tuesday - and Assistant Attorney General Shaun Mackelprang, who's been the head of the AG's criminal division for much of the last two decades.
Mackelprang told the commissioners Wednesday afternoon: "I've done the work for the appellate courts (and) I've personally briefed over 1,000 cases and reviewed those records - and I bring, I think, at least an uncommon degree of real experience to the (Supreme Court) position."
Part of the job, Mackelprang added, and part of the integrity of being a good lawyer, are "to analyze the law and to always report the facts, whether they're favorable or unfavorable."
He told the commissioners that the integrity, ethics and impartiality he's used in his current job are important assets for a judge, too.
Mackelprang said his 19 years at the attorney general's office "has cemented in me my desire to serve the people (and) I would like to serve in another way."