Just a week after Gov. Eric Greitens named him to Missouri's seven-judge Supreme Court, W. Brent Powell expects to begin hearing cases Tuesday.
Powell, 46, of Kansas City, currently is a Jackson County circuit judge.
Greitens chose Powell from a panel of three nominees submitted March 1 by the seven-member Appellate Judicial Commission, after he was one of 30 people who applied to be considered for the vacancy created when Judge Richard Teitelman died last November.
The other two nominees Greitens considered were Lisa White Hardwick, a judge on the state appeals court in Kansas City, and St. Louis attorney Benjamin A. Lipman.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, Powell said: "I am truly humbled, especially considering the experience and strength of all the individuals who applied for the position and the two (other) applicants named to the panel given to the governor."
Valerie Hartman, the 16th Circuit's public information officer, told the News Tribune Powell currently has 416 open cases "of all case types" on his circuit court docket. He also has a docket of several hundred probation cases.
She said the Supreme Court will appoint Powell as a "special judge to complete those cases here that are pending - such as criminal cases where a trial has occurred and the defendant is awaiting sentencing or civil cases where the issues are particularly complex and the cases are close to completion."
Hartman added, Powell's current caseload "will remain with Division 11 until a new circuit judge is appointed. The presiding judge (John M. Torrence) also will reassign and transfer cases that require immediate attention to another division."
Powell has been on the Jackson County Circuit Court since then-Gov. Matt Blunt appointed him in 2008, and the county's voters last November retained him for another six-year term.
When he appeared before the Appellate Judicial Commission on March 1, he said he felt he had "the breadth of experience that makes me well-qualified to serve on the court."
His nine years experience as a trial judge, Powell said, give him a "healthy respect and perspective of the litigation process and trial court proceedings. I've managed and handled big civil cases.
"I've managed class action cases (and) cases involving constitutional issues. I've handled cases (with) probate matters. I've even handled small claims court."
And, he reported in March, his criminal case experience included "murder, rape and awful, awful crimes."
Before joining the circuit court, Powell served seven years as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Kansas City, where he was chief of the General Crimes Unit and the executive assistant U.S. attorney. He tried more than 40 jury trials before being named to the Jackson County Circuit Court.
Before the U.S. Attorney's office, Powell was a Platte County assistant prosecutor.
His wife, Beth Phillips, was appointed as a U.S. district judge in 2011 by President Barack Obama, after she served as the U.S. attorney in Kansas City.
His sister-in-law, Jennifer Phillips, was appointed to the Jackson County Circuit Court in 2014 by then-Gov. Jay Nixon, after serving as an assistant county prosecutor.
Powell's father, his father-in-law, an uncle and several cousins also have been attorneys, and in his statement last week accepting the Supreme Court appointment, Powell said, "Coming from a clan of lawyers, this is a very special day for me and my family."
The Associated Press contributed some information used in this story.