By AP/KWMU
Jefferson City, Mo. – A state appeals court judge has been named to the Missouri Supreme Court.
Governor Bob Holden Monday appointed Mary Rhodes Russell to fill a vacancy on the state's highest court.
The 46-year-old Russell also was nominated to the state Supreme Court in 2001.
She was a partner in the Clayton and Rhodes law firm in her native Hannibal until being appointed to the state Court of Appeals in 1995. She serves on the court's Eastern District in St. Louis.
Russell was one of three candidates nominated earlier this month. She takes the spot left by Judge Duane Benton's appointment to the Eighth U-S Circuit Court of Appeals.