(AP) – Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed Deputy Probate Commissioner S. Margene Burnett to a circuit judgeship in Jackson County.

The appointment was announced Wednesday and fills the vacancy created by Judge Ann Mesle’s retirement from the 16th Judicial Circuit.

Burnett, of Kansas City, has spent 10 years on the probate bench, handling cases involving estate administration, mental health commitments, guardianships and conservatorships. She received her law degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and was in private law practice before going on the bench.

Nixon chose Burnett from a three-member slate of nominees. The other finalists were Janette Rodecap, an attorney in the Jackson County prosecutor’s office, and Bryan Round, an attorney who also serves as a municipal court judge in Peculiar.