Hon. Joel P. Fahnestock

Joel Fahnestock is a judge serving Division 9 of the Missouri 16th Judicial Circuit Court, a position he has held since his appointment in January 2009. He earned his undergraduate degree from William Woods College before obtaining his Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri–Kansas City in 1994. Prior to his judicial appointment, Fahnestock worked as an assistant United States attorney in the civil division, where he handled federal civil litigation matters. Throughout his career, he has been actively involved in several legal associations, including the Ross T. Roberts Inns of Court Program in Kansas City, the Missouri Bar, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, and the Association of Circuit Court Judges. He has been retained by voters in the 2010, 2016, and 2022 retention elections, receiving 63.4%, 66.07%, and 60.9% of the vote respectively, and was recommended for retention by the Appellate Judicial Performance Evaluation Committee.