Callahan

JEFFERSON CITY — President Barack Obama today announced the long-anticipated nomination of Richard Callahan to be the next U.S. attorney in eastern Missouri.

Callahan has been a judge on the Cole County Circuit Court since 2002. Before that, he spent 30 years as a prosecutor in St. Louis and Jefferson City.

Asked Friday why he would want to leave the bench to become a federal prosecutor, Callahan said: “I guess my weakness is a sense of adventure and never turning down a new challenge.”

Callahan, who is 62, quipped that based on his age, “nobody can say I’m using it as a steppingstone.”

A St. Louis native, Callahan got his bachelor’s and law degrees from Georgetown University.

During his 16 years as Cole County prosecutor, Callahan, a Democrat, prosecuted several prominent Democrats, including then-Secretary of State Judi Moriarty and the late Sen. J.B. “Jet” Banks of St. Louis.

His appointment is subject to confirmation by the Senate, where it will no doubt be shepherded by his friend, former prosecutor and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

Callahan said he would continue to handle his regular judicial workload while the Senate conducts its investigation.

Click here for our earlier story on Callahan, including video of him selling hot dogs at his South St. Louis parish picnic in June.