ST. LOUIS COUNTY • Committees evaluating the 62 Missouri judges seeking retention on the Nov. 2 ballot recommended Wednesday that just one be booted.

St. Louis County Associate Circuit Judge Judy Draper received the only "do not retain" rating in a statewide judicial performance assessment required by the Missouri Supreme Court.

Missouri Bar President H.A. "Skip" Walther said this is the first time committees made formal recommendations instead of just distributing survey data. They used 2.85 as a minimum passing score on a 1-to-5 scale in each of 18 categories.

Draper received a failing score in 15, with more than 300 attorneys responding. Her lowest scores were in "competency in the law," at 1.83, and "understanding of rules of procedure and evidence," at 1.97.

In 2006, only 27.5 percent of responding lawyers favored her retention, although she won anyway. She was appointed by Gov. Bob Holden in 2004. Her husband, George W. Draper III, is chief judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.

Bruce Hilton, an attorney who chaired the 21st Circuit committee, said Draper was considered very carefully.

"I wish we could have voted to retain her," Hilton told a reporter. "She is a lovely person - wonderful with the pro se litigants (people representing themselves). She's very effective at managing a bulk docket."

Draper said in a written comment that she is disappointed.

"I enjoy serving the citizens of St. Louis County as an associate circuit judge," she wrote. "I will continue to serve with passion and fairness as I strive to uphold the integrity and independence of the Judiciary."

Hilton said the committee felt that her low rating from lawyers would mean her demotion or dismissal in corporate America. Members said a sample of her written orders was "concise and consistent with the case law" but the "formatting of the document was not uniform" and the legal citations were not consistent.

Draper handles mostly civil and small claims cases. Her undergraduate degree is from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and her law degree from Howard University.

Attorneys and lay people collected data on each judge before voting on whether to endorse retention. Full results are posted on the Missouri Bar's website at www.mobar.org.

Walther said the evaluation process, created in 1948, serves an important role in Missouri's nonpartisan court plan. Judges appointed under the plan, which covers large circuits and appellate courts, are prohibited from campaigning for retention. Instead, the evaluation is intended to provide fair and impartial information.

"We work very hard to obtain factual and substantive information to monitor our judges, Walther said. "It's a much better system than the mudslinging partisan politics that come from partisan elections."

Missouri judges are required to run for retention within a year of appointment and again at the expiration of their terms - 12 years for appellate judges, six for circuit and four for associate. A majority vote of the public is required to remain.

Four judges in the St. Louis area besides Draper scored below the baseline in at least one category; all of them were endorsed. They were St. Louis County Associate Judges Brenda Stith Loftin and Patrick Clifford, St. Louis Circuit Judge David C. Mason and St. Louis Associate Judge Barbara Peebles.

Thomas Glick, president of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, encouraged voters to look at the full data online. "Most citizens have no contact with the judicial process," he said. "They need this information to better cast their vote in November."