Joe Holleman | Post-Dispatch

Political correspondent/columnist

The candidates for appointment as a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge include a formerly embattled state legislator, a one-time prosecutor who successfully sued her former employer and the twin sister of a prosecuting attorney.

The judicial vacancy was created this summer when Thomas Albus stepped down from the bench to become the U.S. Attorney for Missouri's Eastern District.

There are 17 candidates in all for the vacancy. One is Dean Plocher, the former Missouri House Speaker who was the subject of a state ethics investigation in 2024.

A former House staffer filed a discrimination lawsuit against Plocher, accusing him of threatening her job after she helped derail Plocher’s attempt to steer an $800,000 software

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