The supreme court, the state's highest court, consists of seven judges and three commissioners. Judges are selected by the governor from three nominees proposed by a nonpartisan judicial commission; after an interval of at least 12 months, the appointment must be ratified by the voters on a separate nonpartisan ballot. The justices, who serve 12-year terms, select one of their number to act as chief justice. The mandatory retirement age is 70 for all judges in state courts.
The court of appeals, consisting of 32 judges in three districts, assumed its present structure by constitutional amendment in 1970. All appellate judges are selected for 12-year terms in the same manner as the supreme court justices.
The circuit court is the only trial court and has original jurisdiction over all cases and matters, civil and municipal. Circuit court judges, numbering 135 in 1999, serve 6-year terms. Although many circuit court judges are still popularly elected, judges in St. Louis, Kansas City, and some other areas are selected on a nonpartisan basis. Many circuit courts have established municipal divisions, presided over by judges paid locally.
In 2001, Missouri had a total FBI Crime Index rate of 4,776.1 per 100,000 population, including a total of 30,472 violent crimes and 238,411 crimes against property in that year.
As of June 2001, there were 28,167 inmates in state and federal correctional institutions, an increase of 3.2% over the previous year. Two community release centers are located in St. Louis and Kansas City. There are also Missouri inmates housed in Texas jails through a cell leasing program, as well as inmates in an electronic monitoring program. The state's incarceration rate stood at 500 per 100,000 inhabitants in June 2001. Missouri has a death penalty and has executed 60 persons since 1977. In 2003, 70 prisoners were under sentence of death.