Shall Judge Margaret Palmietto, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 31, be retained in office?
What does this office do?
- Deciding trials in the county
- Ruling on evidence and setting sentences in criminal cases
- Deciding family, probate, and civil disputes
Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, Housing Affordability,
Margaret Palmietto
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · Official site
Associate circuit judge in Greene County's 31st Judicial Circuit since her 2015 appointment, retained by voters in 2018 and 2022. She was earlier chief administrative law judge in Missouri's workers' compensation division and a Greene County assistant prosecutor.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 2 records
Upheld a driver’s license revocation after a crash, finding that the arresting officer had probable cause based on the crash, the driver’s admission of drinking, and field-sobriety results.
September 27, 2022
Source: yourmissourijudges.org
In a traffic-stop case, suppressed evidence after finding that a dashcam showed a driver briefly touching lane lines, which she ruled did not justify the stop. The opinion was among her submitted samples for the 2018 judicial review.
September 24, 2018
Source: yourmissourijudges.org
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 5 favorable · 2 unfavorable
Had a conviction for violating a protection order upheld on appeal. The appeals court found she had not erred by excluding evidence about a separate protection order involving the defendant’s mother.
October 31, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Had a search warrant she signed for cellphone location data upheld by a federal court. The court found the warrant sufficiently specific and rejected a challenge to her authority to issue it.
May 14, 2024Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: govinfo.gov
Received a favorable 2022 evaluation from Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review Committee, which found that she substantially met overall judicial performance standards.
September 27, 2022Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: yourmissourijudges.org
Ruled for a motor carrier in an overtime-pay case brought by a yard driver. She found the driver’s trailer inspections affected highway safety and brought him under the federal motor-carrier overtime exemption.
September 27, 2022Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: yourmissourijudges.org
Received a unanimous favorable review from Missouri’s Judicial Performance Review Committee: all 20 members voted that she substantially met overall judicial performance standards.
September 24, 2018Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: yourmissourijudges.org
Had a domestic-assault conviction from her court reversed for a new trial. The appeals court found the record did not show that the defendant understood possible defenses or the risks of representing himself without a lawyer.
January 30, 2018Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: ott.law
Had a ruling in a drunk-driving case reversed by a state appeals court. The court said she should have admitted the numerical result of a roadside breath test when deciding whether the arrest was supported by probable cause.
September 12, 2017Unfavorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Sources: vote.greenecountymo.gov2