Longtime judge honored at ceremony

By Theo Tate
Posted 6/10/22

Two years ago, Roy Richter retired after a 42-year legal career.

But he never got a farewell ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On the afternoon of May 26, Richter was honored at a …

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Longtime judge honored at ceremony

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Two years ago, Roy Richter retired after a 42-year legal career.

But he never got a farewell ceremony due to the coronavirus pandemic.

On the afternoon of May 26, Richter was honored at a one-hour portrait dedication ceremony at the Montgomery County Courthouse. A reception followed in the jury room.
Richter said he was thrilled to return to the county courthouse. He was an associate circuit judge in Montgomery County for 27 years before working 14 years as judge on the Eastern District of the Missouri Court of Appeals.

“It’s old home week,” Richter said. “I got to see a lot of friends, a lot of co-workers and a lot of people I got to spend time with.”

Richter was also happy to see Montgomery City resident Kelly Broniec, who took Richter’s place as judge of the Missouri Court of Appeals in 2020.

“Kelly is great,” Richter said. “We joked that she has been following me around because I was a prosecutor, then she came out here as a prosecutor. Then, I was the associate circuit judge and she was the associate circuit judge. I went to the Court of Appeals and she replaced me at the Court of Appeals. I guess she will have to follow me in retirement when she finally gets settled.”

A portrait of Richter was presented during the ceremony. It was drawn by retired judge Edward Hodge, who also made a matador portrait of Richter 30 years ago.

“Judge Hodge was the circuit judge when I first started,” Richter said. “He was a great trial judge and a good guy.”
Richter was reunited with three of the sheriffs he worked with during his tenure at the courthouse, including current sheriff Craig Allison.

“The only sheriff who wasn’t there that I worked with was John White,” Richter said. “But John passed away a long time ago. It’s fun to see all of them and 10 of the lawyers who I haven’t seen for quite a while because most of the lawyers out here didn’t appear in the Court of Appeals.”

A St. Louis native, Richter graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia’s law school in 1976. Then, he began his practice with Jim Gregory in Montgomery City.

“My best friend in college was Bob Schlanker of Schlanker Funeral Home,” Richter said. “He used to come out in the summers. We would hang around together. Between my second and third years of law school, I came here to work for Jim Gregory, who was then a prosecuting attorney. He said he wasn’t going to run again. He said, ‘If you want to be a prosecuting attorney, get your residency established and come and run because nobody wants it. It’s a lousy job and it doesn’t pay much.’ With that kind of endorsement, how can you not come and run? So I did.”

Richter was elected Montgomery County’s prosecuting attorney in 1977. He was elected probate/magistrate judge in 1978 and became the associate circuit judge the following year.

Richter said he enjoyed his time working at the county courthouse.

“The people I got to work with were so wonderful,” Richter said. “Everybody got along. We got the work done, but we also had a good time. We enjoyed each other’s company. We gave it our best shot and I think we did a pretty good job with it.”

Richter was appointed to the Missouri Court of Appeals in 2005. He retired in July 2020.

The longtime judge was contacted by 12th Judicial Circuit Presiding Judge Jason Lamb to set up the dedication ceremony. Since Richter was planning on going to a golf tournament in Warrenton on May 27, he agreed that May 26 would be a good time to hold the ceremony.

“It worked out well for everybody,” Richter said.

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