The November ballot will look a little different after two judges recently were granted court orders to have their names removed from their races.
Jeffrey Coleman stepped down from his associate circuit judge race Sept. 4 to run for the circuit court judge position vacated by Edward Page.
On Aug. 26, the day after the final certification date for the November election, Page requested to withdraw his candidacy for Division 2 judge through court order. He retired from the bench on April 30 with two days’ notice. His name remained on the August primary ballot as the lone candidate, receiving 21,667 votes despite being inactive with the Missouri Bar Association since at least July.
When Page’s name was removed from the ballot, state statute reopened filing for Republican, Democratic and Libertarian candidates for his vacant seat. Candidates had until Sept. 8 to file for the seat.
Coleman accepted the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee’s nomination to be the candidate for the empty Division 2 seat. Coleman, who was running unopposed in his own race, requested by court order to be removed as a candidate for Division 10 associate judge.
According to a news release from the Jefferson County Republican Central Committee, the committee met on Sept. 3 and selected Coleman as their Republican candidate for Division 2. By stepping down from his race, this created a new opening and an even smaller window for filing.
“Judge Coleman’s selection for Division 2 created a new opening in the Division 10 associate judge race,” the news release said. “On Sept. 4, Judge Coleman voluntarily withdrew from that race, and the committee selected Lucas Null as the Republican candidate for the Division 10 opening.”
According to the Jefferson County Libertarian Central Committee, Colby Smith-Hynes filed as a Libertarian candidate for the position that will be vacated by Coleman.
Smith-Hynes recently ran unsuccessfully in the August primary as a Republican candidate against Renee Reuter for the Division 12 associate circuit judge seat. Reuter won the race with 13,937 votes (55.39 percent) to Smith-Hynes’ 11,224 votes.
The local Democratic Party was unable to find candidates in the timeframe.
“Unfortunately, with such a tight timeframe to field a candidate, I don’t believe we will find someone who meets the requirements by 5 p.m. today (Tuesday),” said Jessie Shepherd, chairperson of the Jefferson County Democratic Central Committee. “We did speak to several individuals who took it under consideration but did not have the time to run a campaign due to other responsibilities and family obligations. It appears many of Jefferson County’s attorneys who align with the Democratic Party have moved outside of the county in recent years and residency is a requirement to run for these seats. I am quite confident that the Democratic Party of Jefferson County will have candidates for judge the next cycle those elections appear on the ballot.”
Coleman
“Judge Coleman has skills as a judge and former prosecutor,” said Sharon Swan, chairperson of the Republican Central Committee. “His current court experience coupled with his background in criminal, civil, juvenile and family law will allow him to have a seamless transition as a circuit judge in Division 2.”
Coleman is a lifelong Jefferson County resident with 26 years of litigation experience. He earned his undergraduate degree from Truman State University and his juris doctorate from Drake University School of Law. He began his legal career as an assistant prosecuting attorney in Jefferson County from 2000-2006, then served as an assistant circuit attorney for the city of St. Louis, prosecuting violent crimes and crimes against children, from 2007-2014.
Since January 2015, he has served as the associate circuit judge for Division 10, presiding over juvenile delinquency and dependency cases, criminal cases and, at times, civil, family, traffic and treatment court dockets.
Null
“Lucas Null is a bright and talented attorney with 12 years’ experience practicing law in Missouri, Illinois and federal courts,” Swan said. “Null’s legal background, his commitment to impartiality and fairness as well as his work in domestic, juvenile and probate matters will make him a strong candidate as associate circuit judge in November.”
Null is an attorney and owns The Null Law Firm LLC in Jefferson County.
He earned his undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his juris doctorate from St. Louis University School of Law, where he served on the St. Louis University Law Journal and the Moot Court Board.
He has more than a decade of experience practicing law in Missouri and Illinois state and federal courts, representing individuals, businesses, municipalities and healthcare providers in matters ranging from personal injury and civil rights to commercial litigation and probate. He also has served as a guardian ad litem in domestic, juvenile and order of protection matters and as court-appointed counsel for minors and respondents in juvenile and probate cases and is a member of the Jefferson County Bar Association.
Smith-Hynes
Smith-Hynes is the deputy director of legal services for the Jefferson County Juvenile Office.
He received a juris doctor degree from University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. He received a bachelor’s degree in socio-political communications from Missouri State University. He served in the Air Force Fire Protection and Base Honor Guard in active duty from 1989-1990 and on ready reserve from 1990-1994.
He served as a municipal judge for Hillsboro from 2007-2020 and Herculaneum (provisional) from 2004-2024. He has served as the municipal judge for Byrnes Mill since 2006 and for Pevely since 2022. He has been appointed by various Jefferson County judges as a guardian ad litem and mediator in domestic relations cases for more than 20 years. From 2022-2024, he was a senior trial attorney for the Juvenile Office for two years. From 2007-2022, he was an attorney and managing member of Smith-Hynes Law Firm. He was an associate attorney with Breeze, Roberts, Ponder-Bates & Zimmer from 2002-2007. He is currently a member of the Missouri Bar, the Jefferson County Bar Association, Missouri Juvenile Justice Association Board of Directors and the Missouri Municipal and Associate Circuit Judges Association Board of Directors.