Judge Brice Sechrest: Alumni Award and Commencement Speaker

Judge Brice Sechrest accepts the Distinguished Alumni Award from Dr. Joe Gilgour at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony

Judge Sechrest was also the featured speaker at the 2024 Commencement Ceremony

The 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to the Honorable Brice Sechrest of Park Hills. He currently serves as the Associate Circuit Judge for St. Francois County and is a candidate for Circuit Judge for the 24^th Judicial Circuit, covering St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Madison, and Washington counties.

Sechrest grew up in Flat River and graduated from Central High School in Park Hills in 1997. He attended Mineral Area College on an academic and music scholarship, earning an Associate of Arts degree in 1999. At graduation, he received the Outstanding Student Award in Academics.

 “The instruction I received at Mineral Area College was as good as any education I received throughout my academic career,” he says. “Ken McIntyre was the best math professor I ever had and is the reason I got a minor in mathematics. Carolyn Gordon, in her English Literature class, inspired a lifelong passion for literature. I loved my chemistry classes with Dr. Margaret Williams. And Dr. Jon Cozean was the first person to suggest that I become a lawyer.”

Sechrest continued his education at Southeast Missouri State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science with a Political Science major and a Mathematics minor in 2003. He then attended Law School at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2007.

He passed the Missouri Bar in 2007 and began working as a lawyer in Cape Girardeau. In 2009, he returned to Park Hills, practicing law as a partner in the Law Firm of Williams & Sechrest, P.C. for 12 years. As a lawyer, he practiced in the areas of criminal defense, family law, probate, estate planning, and civil litigation. He also served as guardian ad litem for many children in Juvenile Court and family court cases. Sechrest volunteered as defense counsel for people in the Drug Court program, served on the Treatment Court Steering Committee, and helped create the Family Treatment Court program for the 24^th Judicial Circuit.

Governor Parson appointed Sechrest as Associate Circuit Judge for St. Francois County in 2021, and he was elected to the same position in 2022. As an Associate Circuit Judge, he oversees a variety of proceedings, including criminal and family cases, as well as small claims and landlord-tenant proceedings. He was appointed by the Supreme Court to serve on the Family Court Committee, which reviews rules and policies for the Family Courts throughout the State of Missouri and also continues to serve on the Treatment Court Steering Committee for the 24^th Judicial Circuit.

Sechrest has been involved with several community organizations over the past 15 years. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Park Hills, where he helped create a ministry to assist foster children and their families. He is also a member of the Park Hills Lions Club. Before becoming a judge, Sechrest was on the board of directors for the Mineral Area College Foundation, the United Way of St. Francois County, the Farmington Regional Chamber of Commerce, and Ozarks Federal Savings and Loan.

MAC has been an integral part of Sechrest’s life. It is the reason that his family lives in this community. His grandfather, Bob Sechrest, was the first basketball coach and long-time athletic director at MAC. His grandmother, Eileen Sechrest, was a career elementary school teacher and administrator in the North County School District, and believed that MAC was the greatest asset in this community. His parents, Bob Sechrest, Jr. and Mary Sechrest, were local school teachers before opening their own business in Park Hills. His brother Lance Sechrest and sister Jill Wagner continue operating businesses and raising their families in the local community.