The new rankings should more closely reflect how judges fare with those who face them.

For 68 years, lawyers only have evaluated judges up for retention under the Missouri non-partisan court plan. These evaluations help voters decide whether to keep judges in office for another term. But citizens have never taken part in the evaluation process before.

"Since judges decide cases for people, not for lawyers, but for people, we think that judges ought to listen to and ought to hear from their customers, so to speak," Dale Doerhoff of the Missouri Bar Association said.

This is the third change Missouri has made on how to evaluate judges.

Starting in 1948 the Missouri Bar began to ask lawyers whether certain judges should be retained. Then in 1992 lawyers began to get longer surveys instead of the simple yes-no poll.

Now with the non-lawyers chiming in, the process is even more democratic.

"No one pulled rank. No one talked down," Teacher Don Barzowski said.

The old method of evaluation was too subjective. The new surveys use a different grading system that's intended to eliminate that problem.

"Are all judges above average or are all judges below average? It's a subjective judgment, so what we replaced that with was whether or not a judge fulfills expectations," Doerhoff said.

For the judges to keep their jobs, a majority will have to vote to retain them. The only judges mid-Missouri will be voting to retain this November are on the state's appellate courts.