October 22, 2008: MWSU was granted the right to maintain a chapter of Lamda Epsilon Chi (LEX), the National Honor Society in Legal Assistant / Paralegal Studies by the American Association for Paralegal Education. The honor of LEX membership is to enhance a student's resume by recognizing their outstanding academic achievement. Eligible inductees will be MWSU Legal Studies majors in good standing with the University who have completed a minimum of 2/3 of the program requirements, and who have demonstrated "superior academic performance" as evidenced by a cumulative GPA average of 3.5 or higher. We have up to one year from the date of issue of its charter to induct graduates from the previous five years. If you are interested in becoming a member of LEX please contact Assistant Professor Suzanne Kissock at kissock@missouriwestern.edu.

MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS, WESTERN DISTRICT TO SIT AT MISSOURI WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY - For the fourteenth consecutive year, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District will convene court at Missouri Western State University. The Court will sit at Missouri Western on Wednesday, October 12, 2011. Arguments will begin at 9:00 a.m., and will once again be held at the Kemper Recital Hall located in the Leah Spratt Multipurpose Building on campus.

The judges will hear attorneys argue whether the trials had errors that should cause them to be retried, or the trial court's judgment reversed, he said.  The judges will read written arguments before the court session, he added, and may interrupt the attorneys' arguments with questions.

The Court has made it a practice to convene yearly in St. Joseph. It convenes regularly in Kansas City.  Its jurisdiction is appeals from trial courts in 45 counties in western and central Missouri. Holliger will preside over the proceedings at Missouri Western.  He was appointed to the court of appeals in 2000.  Immediately prior to his appointment, he served as a circuit judge in Jackson County.  Prior to his judicial service, he practiced law in Kansas City.  Hardwick was appointed to the Western District in 2001. Previously, she served as a trial judge in Jackson County and practiced law for 14 years in Kansas City. Welsh was appointed to the Western District in November 2007.   He practiced law for ten years, and then served successively as a municipal judge, an associate circuit judge and a circuit judge in Clay County.

April 12, 2008: During the week of April 6th through April 11th 2008, Delta Phi Upsilon attended the 71st National Conference sponsored by the American Criminal Justice Association/ Lambda Alpha Epsilon; five days of workshops, competitive activities, guest speakers, entertainment, and displays. This year’s conference was held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas City, MO. MWSU Criminal Justice Department’s own Professor Jill Miller, member of the ACJA for over 30 years, was this year’s Conference Coordinator. Professor Miller is also DPU’s academic advisor.

This year’s conference theme was “Secrets of the Dead.” The first speaker, Dr. Mary E. Case, was an expert on crimes committed against children and presented how one goes about investigating the bodies of the deceased for clues to solve crimes. The second speaker, Mary Fran Ernst, presented a two-hour workshop on “The Role of the Medico Legal Death Investigator and How to Become a Medico Legal Death Investigator.” The final speaker, Richard Warrington, presented “Gizmos & Gadgets.” This was a presentation about basic latent fingerprint processing, developing/lifting prints on textured surfaces and crime scene investigation. Participants were able to sign up for a workshop where Warrington showed how exactly one goes about doing such and were issued certificates for attending.

What never changes about this annually held conference, however, are the firearms, physical agility, crime scene investigation, and written competitions. Firearms are where individuals or teams show their proficiency with a weapon. Physical agility is basically tested with a timed obstacle course. Crime scene is where teams of three attempts to solve a purported crime committed and write up a report of their findings. The written competitions are multiple-choice exams with 75 questions each and may have short-answer tie-breaker; the subjects are as follows: juvenile justice, corrections, criminal law, police management, and LAE knowledge. Students and professionals tied to the criminal justice field from all across the nation compete to test their knowledge/skills and, overall, win.

Leona Long placed third in the physical agility competition for females of an age 26 – 35. An upper level team (students have more than 70 credit hours) consisting of Frankie Olson, Vern Wheeler, and Lolita Murphy placed second for Crime Scene, and; A lower level team (students have less than 70 credit hours) consisting of the aforementioned Leona Long, Whitney Wagner and Clint Payne placed first for Crime Scene. Again, this was a national competition.

Other DPU members who competed: Tommy Ervie, Logan Parker, Jerri Ann Donelson, and Kameron Foster. Professor Frederica Nix also attended the conference but did not participate in the competitions.

Archive Press Releases:

• Washington D.C. Trip
• Criminal Justice/Legal Studies Students Present Research Findings at ACA Conference