July 9, 2009
Gov. Nixon appoints Karen King Mitchell to judgeship on Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Gov. Jay Nixon today announced his appointment of Karen King Mitchell, 50, to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. Mitchell will fill a vacancy on the Court created by the retirement of Paul M. Spinden.
Mitchell is currently the Director of the Missouri Department of Revenue, a post to which she was appointed by Gov. Nixon and confirmed by the Missouri Senate on January 22, 2009. Prior to leading the Department of Revenue, she served for more than two decades in the Office of the Attorney General. There, Mitchell held a number of positions including chief deputy attorney general, state solicitor and chief counsel of the governmental affairs division. During that time, Mitchell personally argued cases at every level of the court system, including the Supreme Court of the United States. Mitchell also served as a law clerk for judges on the Missouri Supreme Court and Missouri Circuit Court, 16th Circuit.
"During her years as an attorney in public service, Karen King Mitchell has consistently delivered exemplary representation to the people of the state of Missouri before courts at the trial and appellate levels, as well as considerable administrative leadership and expertise," Gov. Nixon said. "She has demonstrated remarkable knowledge of the law in every respect, and I appoint her to the appellate bench with the utmost confidence that she will be an asset to the cause of justice and the citizens she serves."
In addition to her legal practice in government service, Mitchell has been actively involved in the Missouri Bar and in volunteer efforts that serve the legal community. She was elected to the Board of Governors of the Missouri Bar in 2008 to represent the state's Western District and serves on the Missouri Supreme Court's Appellate Practice Committee, to which she was appointed in 2002. Additionally, Mitchell was a leader in the National Association of Attorneys General, assisting newly elected Attorneys General in other states with the transition into office. She is a member of the Elwood L. Thomas Inn of Court.
Mitchell earned a bachelor's degree and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1981. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law in 1984, where she was a member of the Law Review.
In the community, Mitchell serves on the auxiliary of the Heisinger Bluffs Nursing and Life Care Home and is a volunteer member of the House Corporation Board for the Alpha Phi Social Sorority chapter at the University of Missouri. She is an active member of the Saint Andrews Lutheran Church in Columbia, where she lives with her husband, Greg, and son, Sam.
Mitchell was one of three nominees for this judgeship submitted to Gov. Nixon by the Appellate Judicial Commission for the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan.
Gov. Nixon has appointed Alana Barragán-Scott to be the acting Director of the Department of Revenue following Mitchell's departure.