New 39th Circuit Judge Kasper getting settled in

By: 
Steve Chapman

Arkansas native saw law as his way to serve
 
When Matthew Kasper was in high school, the events of Sept. 11, 2001 set him on a path that would eventually take him into the legal profession.
“It was something that sort of developed when I was in high school, and then really crystalized in my senior year of high school on Sept. 11, 2001,” he said. “When that happened, I felt really strongly that I wanted to do something to serve my country. I had thought about maybe going into the military. (I started) looking at various options, and I really felt like going into law was the way I could serve my community.”
Kasper is the new associate judge for the 39th Judicial Circuit at the Lawrence County Justice Center. Formerly of the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office, he was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson to take over the term of Judge Robert George in February, after George reached the mandatory retirement age for judges in Missouri.
A native of Hartman, Ark., Kasper attended Arkansas Tech University, after he graduated from high school, where he got his degree in political science. He then attended the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he got a master’s in divinity and finally attended the University of Arkansas, where he earned his law degree. Upon his graduation from U of A in 2016, he was hired by the Lawrence County Prosecutor’s Office as an assistant prosecuting attorney, and he and his family have lived in Lawrence County ever since.

A wish to serve community guided Kasper’s career choices
A desire to serve the community, coupled with certain experiences, steered Kasper into studying criminal law.
“My real passion is community service … and so I wanted to do something where I could serve my community,” he said. “I interned at law school at the Taney County prosecutor’s office and really developed a love for that. I also have a particular interest in working with and supporting the police, local law enforcement. While I was at Ft. Worth, Texas, in seminary, I worked as a patrol officer with the campus police department, and I got to work closely with the Ft. Worth police. I just developed a love for that community, supporting the officers, and overall, as a prosecuting attorney, I (got) to do that.”
As a prosecutor, Kasper was able to work on several criminal cases that ranged from traffic tickets and misdemeanors to felonies, including murder. That changed when he was appointed as a judge; he said now about 75-percent of his time is spent on civil matters.
“Now, as a judge, I don’t get to (work on criminal cases) as much, but I still get to work with the bailiffs and the sheriff’s office pretty closely,” he said.

Unrealistic expectations people have about the courts
Kasper said television has given many people an unrealistic expectation of how the legal system works; something that hits home when they serve on a jury or are called as a witness to a case.
“When people watch crime shows on television,” he said, “you get a particular view on how quickly things happen, everything’s wrapped up in about an hour … and you’ll see a crime happen, and then a lot of times, it ends in a trial. In reality, probably less than five-percent of cases end in an actual jury trial, and those occur approximately two years after the events have happened.”
However, Kasper said, that time lapse is necessary to make certain that everything is done correctly when a case goes to trial.
“That’s the way our justice system works,” he said. “It takes time. I think there’s benefits in that, because we want to make sure justice is done, we want to give a lot of time for all the facts to get out there. We don’t want to rush to a hasty decision.”

Kasper enjoying his new role as judge:
While Kasper misses certain parts of his old job as a prosecutor, he said he actually enjoys being a judge much more.
“I definitely prefer this new role,” he said. “There’s a learning curve and adjustment period, but … I really enjoy this role. There are things I miss about the prosecutor’s office, and generally speaking, it’s the relationships and working with police (and) working with victims and all that (which) I miss. I liked that part of that job, but as a general rule, I feel like I can serve my community better (because) I feel better suited to this role than I (was) at the prosecutor’s office.”
Kasper also said that when his current term is up, he hopes to be re-elected.
“I very much enjoy this role, (and) I feel like I can make a difference here,” he said. “I feel like I can serve my community. I love Lawrence County. As soon as my wife and I visited here, when I got the job here, it just felt like home, so I plan to stay as long as I’m useful and people want to put me in this position.”

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Lawrence County Record

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Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
www.lawrencecountyrecord.com

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