Missouri Governor  Mike Parson announced Judge Kelly Broniec as his choice to fill an open seat on the Missouri Supreme Court.

Broniec, 52, currently serves as chief judge of the Missouri’s Eastern District Court of Appeals in St. Louis. She will fill the vacancy left by Judge George W. Draper III, who retired earlier this month. With Broniec’s appointment, women will occupy   four of the seven seats on the court.

“I come from a small town and to have this opportunity to serve on the court with three other women and knowing that we’ll be one of only 11 states in the country to have a majority of women on the state’s highest court is quite an honor,” Broniec said.

“I will do my best to bring common sense, practicality and respect for the rule of law to my work at the court, along with the important values of humility, kindness, and hard work that I learned from my grandparents,”

Parson appointed Broniec to serve on the Eastern District Appeals Court in 2020. Before that, she served as an associate circuit judge in Montgomery County for nearly 15 years. She was the Montgomery County prosecuting attorney from 1999 to 2006