Hon. Robert L. Rice is an associate circuit judge for the 4th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri. He was appointed to the bench by Governor Mike Parson in 2020, filling the vacancy created by the appointment of the Hon. Doug Thomson to the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District.
The 4th Judicial Circuit Court includes Atchison, Gentry, Holt, Nodaway, and Worth Counties.
Prior to his appointment, Rice was the Prosecuting Attorney for Nodaway County, a position to which he was first elected in 2010. He was retained in 2014 and 2018. Before that, he had managed his own private law firm in Maryville (2008 to 2010), was an associate at the Johnathan L. Meyer Law Firm (2008), and an assistant public defender with the Missouri State Public Defender System (2003 to 2007). In addition, Rice spent time as a 4th Circuit Alternative DWI Treatment Court judge.
He received a B.S. in government from Northwest Missouri State University in 2000. Rice went on to complete a J.D. at Creighton University School of Law in 2003.
He was a president of the 4th Judicial Circuit Bar Association. Rice also served as the regional coordinator of the Supreme Court of Missouri’s Civic Education Committee and was a past chair of the 4th Circuit’s Leadership Team on Mental Health and Criminal Justice.
At the time of his appointment, he resided in Maryville, Missouri. Rice attended Maryville High School.
He is registered as a Republican.