ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Judge George W. Draper III will become chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District, on Thursday, July 1, 2004.
"It is a great privilege for me to preside as the first African-American chief judge of the Eastern District, and to be serving at the same time as the first African-American chief justice of our Supreme Court," Draper said.
As chief judge, Draper will serve as the chief administrative officer for the court, which serves 25 counties and the city of St. Louis, an area that includes 45 percent of the state's population.
After his law school graduation, Draper completed a clerkship with the Honorable Shellie Bowers (also a St. Louis native) of the Superior Court, District of Columbia.
In July 1994, Draper was appointed by Gov. Mel Carnahan to serve as an associate circuit judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit (St. Louis county), and four years later, Carnahan appointed Draper as a circuit judge of the 21st Judicial Circuit.
