Mo. Rev. Stat. § 478.730: Circuit No. 44, judge appointed, elected when.

There shall be one circuit judge in the forty-fourth judicial circuit consisting of the counties of Douglas, Ozark, and Wright. The first judge to sit in this circuit shall be appointed by the governor on January 1, 1982, and shall serve until his successor is duly elected in 1982 and takes office on the first Monday in January of 1983.