Daniels runs on a family tradition
Judicial candidate cites depth in practice of law.

Deborah Daniels’ interest in politics started early.

She was 10 when her father, Fayette attorney W.F. Daniels, was working on a local effort to elect Stuart Symington as the Democratic nominee for president. One day, to show their support for the candidate, young Deborah and her sister plastered the walls of the family shower stall with Symington bumper stickers.

Needless to say, their mother wasn’t happy, and Symington lost the nomination to U.S. Sen. John F. Kennedy.

So when Deborah Daniels, now 55 and the mother of three grown children, tossed her hat in the ring in the spring for a new judgeship on the Boone County associate circuit bench, she opted for campaign signs, not bumper stickers.

"I decided signs were a better way to go," she said.

Daniels is a tenacious and highly organized attorney who leaves nothing to chance if she can help it. The timing of her campaign has been no accident.

"I think being a good judge means having the commitment to establish a standard of excellence both in and out of the courtroom," Daniels said. "That means you might stay late one day to read the hand-downs from the appellate court to be better prepared for court at 9 a.m. the next day. What makes a good judge is being prepared."

Daniels is competing in the Democratic primary against C.J. Dykhouse, 33, and Cavanaugh Noce, 33, both attorneys in private practice. The winner will face Republican Richard Hicks, 38, or Dale Roberts, 53, in the general election set for Nov. 7.

The term of the new Division 11 judgeship begins in January.

Daniels grew up in Fayette, the youngest of four children. Politics was part of the family; her father was chairman of the Missouri Democratic Party for many years. She learned early an appreciation for activism.

"You should have the strength of your convictions" when running for office, she said. "You shouldn’t take it on as a lark."

After graduating from the School of Law at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Daniels took a job as law clerk for Judge Fred Henley on the Missouri Supreme Court. A year later, she worked for the Missouri Supreme Court clerk’s office, developing model forms for use in criminal trials and local court rules to assist trial judges throughout the state.

Daniels has served on the Missouri Supreme Court Committee on Procedure in Criminal Cases for more than 25 years, helping develop criminal rules of procedure and forms for charging and instructing jurors in criminal cases.

She has been an adjunct professor at the MU law school since 1983. In 1999, Daniels became an assistant prosecutor in Boone County, where she became well known for thorough behind-the-scenes research on complex civil and criminal cases. Recently, Daniels served as chief counsel of the Criminal Division of Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon’s office.

In 2002, Daniels was among three Democrats recommended by the 13th Judicial Circuit’s judiciary committee to Gov. Bob Holden as a possible successor to retiring Circuit Judge Frank Conley. Holden appointed Columbia attorney Gary Oxenhandler.

Cape Girardeau County Prosecutor Morley Swingle, who serves with Daniels on the criminal procedures committee for the state Supreme Court, said Daniels has the "perfect experience" to serve as an associate circuit judge.

"I’ve had a bird’s-eye view of Debbie, and she combines legal scholarship and courtroom experience better than anyone else I know," Swingle said. "She can hold her own in the ivory tower with any law professor, and she has been in the trenches, trying misdemeanors and felonies cases."

Most important, Swingle said, Daniels embodies a sincere appreciation for the law.

"What I like to see in a judge is a person who knows the law and will follow the law, even if they disagree with it," he said. "That is Debbie Daniels to a T."

An associate circuit judge has jurisdiction over all misdemeanor cases and over felony cases until they are bound over for trial in circuit court. They also preside over civil cases with damage claims as high as $25,000.

Daniels pointed out that most of the cases in associate circuit court never go to trial but are settled through plea agreements. In 2005, associate circuit judges in Boone and Callaway counties disposed of 5,885 misdemeanor cases. Some 5,000 cases were settled through guilty pleas, six cases went to jury trials and 19 were decided by a bench trial. More than 700 cases were dismissed.

"Real court experiences are somewhat tedious and require a great deal of attention to detail," Daniels said. "It takes a great deal of patience and common sense to come to a resolution, which is often not flamboyant."

Dan Gralike, deputy director of the Missouri Public Defender Commission, who serves with Daniels on the high court’s procedures committee, said Daniels has the experience and intellect to be a "superb judge."

"She has experience in the trial court and appellate court," Gralike said. "She fully understands the importance of how exact the interpretation and application of statutes and court opinions must be in the court process."

Daniels said the most important job she ever had was being mother to her three now-grown children.

"You don’t get well-adjusted teenagers by starting to be a parent at 13," she said. "Same way with being a judge. … Sometimes, the work you do outside the courtroom is as important as what happens in court."

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Reach Sara Agnew at (573) 815-1717 or sagnew@tribmail.com.

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