Politics & Government

St. Charles Municipal Judge Candidate Profile: William Lohmar

Lohmar says adding extra court dates may help reduce the size of the docket.

William Lohmar is one of three candidates running for St. Charles municipal judge. The other candidates are  and Paul Kaiser, whose candidate profiles are also available. Lohmar filled out this questionnaire and submitted it to St. Charles Patch via email. The answers are edited for spelling only. 

CAMPAIGN CONTACT INFORMATION

  • Website: None 
  • Email: william.lohmar@live.com
  • Phone: 636-946-4862

PERSONAL INFORMATION

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  • Age: 64
  • Family: Married to Shirley Lohmar, retired principal in St. Charles School District. One son, Tim Lohmar, who is Associate Circuit Judge in St. Charles County. 
  • Education: I graduated from undergraduate school at Southeast Missouri, with a BS degree in history and social studies (which were the recommended pre-law studies at that university at the time that I attended). I graduated from St. Louis University School of Law with a Juris Doctor Degree. After graduation, I took and passed the Missouri Bar Examination and became an Attorney. I am presently an attorney. 
  • Occupation: I am in private practice with the firm of Lohmar, Staebell & Burlison, a firm that I started many years ago but left to become a circuit judge. Before I began the law firm which I am now a partner in, I was in private practice with another law firm in St. Charles, where I worked before I was appointed as assistant prosecuting attorney of St. Charles County. 
  • Party affiliation: Municipal elections are non-partisan, so none of the candidates in this election have any party affiliation.
  • Previous elected offices: I was elected as magistrate judge, then associate circuit judge and, finally, circuit judge.
  • Applicable experience:  I have been an attorney for forty years and, as I stated earlier, I have served as an associate in one law firm, then was appointed as an assistant prosecuting attorney of St. Charles County, served as a judge of the St. Charles County Circuit Court for thirty years, then retired on Jan. 1, 2011, to become a partner in the law firm of Lohmar, Staebell, & Burlison, in St. Charles. All of the legal work that I have done over the past forty years has been applicable to the position that I now seek. None of these positions, however, has been as important as my experience as a Judge. As a judge, although I tried everything from Murder to Small Claims cases, I had the invaluable experience of actually sitting as Judge in St. Charles City Municipal Court cases. For nine years, I heard cases from the St. Charles City Court which were appealed to the Circuit Court. Of the many hundreds of cases that I have heard as a judge, a significant number of them have been the exact types of cases that I will hear as the St. Charles Municipal Judge, the position for which I am running for election. I am thoroughly versed in municipal law, procedure, and the city ordinances of the City of St. Charles.

CANDIDATE QUESTIONS

What is the primary reason you are running for this office?

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Although I was a judge of the Circuit Court for 30 years and retired from that position because there are some legal matters that I would like to work with as a private attorney, I still know that I am experienced and accomplished as a judge. As a result, I am running for municipal judge of the City of St. Charles to make this court, which already respected as a well-run court, even better, by introducing many of the techniques that I have learned throughout the years.  

I have always been known as a judge who is a successful problem solver. For many years, I have served on the Court Rules and Records Committees, to which I was appointed by the Missouri Supreme Court. I have studied various courts, their practices, and the procedures they employed, and have been instrumental in developing a number of rules and procedures to make them more effective and efficient.

The position that I seek is judge of one of the most highly-respected municipal courts in the greater St. Louis area. As good as it is, as the present judge, Dan Barklage, has pointed out to the St. Charles City Council, that it is greatly overworked and has extremely large and burdensome dockets. This has the result of causing the citizens, officers, and others who appear in that court to spend many long nights, sitting and waiting for their cases to be called. I agree with him that this is an intolerable situation. He requested that the City fund an additional judge. After a thorough study, the council determined that one judge, alone, will handle the Municipal Court Cases. I understand the decision of the council and realize that the present state of the economy is such that two judges is a luxury that our tax-payers cannot afford, and that changes must be made to handle the existing docket of the municipal court to make it even more efficient. I have faced this problem many times in my judicial career. I have used many techniques which I know would transfer easily to the municipal court to help ease the docket problem and make the court more accessible to the citizens of our city.

One of the techniques which I have recommended and used successfully in the State Court is to schedule more court dates to reduce the docket size. No one likes this solution initially, but it is a very productive short-term measure to attack an overly large docket. I have found that this immediately goes a long way to help solve the problem of large dockets and is received very well by the citizens, and others, who benefit from it by not sitting through lengthy and time-consuming court sessions which last for untold, and often unnecessary, hours on week-nights.  

The court does have one day session a month, perhaps another short-term measure would be to add another day, just until the presently backed-up docket is gotten under control. Special evening sessions, designed for only citizens, or attorneys has proved helpful in many courts throughout the state. There are a number of other short-term methods which are easily applied and highly-successful in reducing docket size. I would review the present operating system of the court and try to employ the more successful of these.  

My 30 years of docket experience would be very helpful in this regard. I stress that the present backed-up and burdensome docket is not the fault of the present municipal judge.

He has thoughtfully suggested a measure which would greatly ease the existing pressure. Present economic situations, however, make the suggested situation too difficult on the tax payers at the present time. I will give to the court whatever time it takes to solve the existing docket problem. I am certain, based upon prior judicial experience, that I can accomplish this. If so, the court will become an even better one than it is now. That is the reason that I am seeking this position.

What will be your single most important priority if you get elected?

I have addressed this in my answer to question one, above.

What sets you apart from the other candidates, if contested?

Experience. My experience as a judge is extensive, and is unmatched by any of the other candidates for this position. Neither has the vital judicial experience,  anywhere close to that which I have gained over the years. It is true and fair to say that I am the only candidate to have actually sat as a judge of any case which has been filed in the municipal court, and I have done so in hundreds of such cases. For nine years, I was the only judge of the Circuit Court to hear appeals of cases filed in the municipal court. No other experience can possibly be more valuable in being the municipal judge. I am thoroughly knowledgeable of the ordinances, rules, procedures, and practices of the municipal court. I have learned the above by sitting as the judge in such cases. Learning these matters from the standpoint of the judge who actually rules on the case is much different, and much more meaningful, as a candidate for this job than any experience gained by anyone else, in any other manner.

How long have you lived in St. Charles? 

I have lived in St. Charles for forty years with my college sweetheart and wife, Shirley Lohmar, who is a recently retired Principal of Blackhurst Elementary School and Null Elementary School. We have been married for forty years. Our son, Tim Lohmar, was born and attended school in St. Charles, graduating from St. Charles West High School in 1992.

What's your favorite thing about St. Charles?

St. Charles is a charming community of new and old. It has exploded in population in the past forty years, with new homes, and new residents. Despite this, St. Charles has great reverence for it's past. As a result, it has retained the beauty and wonder of an historic town. One need only visit the wonderful and quaint shops along South Main Street to appreciate this fact.

What is the biggest problem in St. Charles?

In my opinion, the biggest problem facing St. Charles is it's tremendous growth over the past 40 years. The growth has been so rapid that, in many cases, we have had tremendous difficulties in dealing with it in an orderly fashion. This is not because of negligence, or lack or care, on behalf of the City. With tremendous growth comes  many new problems. This is true in any city similar to ours in terms of it's growth. 


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