March 2, 2024

Submitted by Venessa Maxwell-Lopez

Venessa graduated with her Juris Doctor from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, School of Law in 1991. While still in law school, Venessa started her legal career interning at the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. She had an opportunity to learn how to prosecute a wide variety of cases and was responsible for her own docket.

In 1999, she started her own practice so that she would have the flexibility to stay home and raise her family. In addition to her private practice, she has worked at the Lee’s Summit Municipal Court serving as appointed counsel since 2007. She has held similar roles in the Roeland Park and Shawnee Municipal Courts since 2015 and 2017, respectively. These roles and her 33 years practicing criminal law in both Missouri and Kansas give her the specific background she needs to be a qualified municipal court judge.

A Lee’s Summit resident for almost 28 years, Venessa and her husband, Beto, love the Lee’s Summit community and have raised three daughters here. Michaela, a 4th year medical student, Celena, a 5th grade teacher, and Sophia, a senior in college.

Venessa is active and serving in the community. While her children were growing up, she helped coach and manage girls’ softball and soccer teams through the Lee’s Summit Parks and Rec. She was an active member of PTA and served as the Booster Club President. She is a member of the Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Lee’s Summit and Leadership Lee’s Summit, all which give her the opportunity to volunteer for numerous local charities. She was a Commissioner on the Jackson County Combat Commission for eight years until moving to the Jackson County Merit Commission in 2017 where she is currently a Commissioner and Vice Chairman.

She is an active member of her church serving in the choir, on the praise team, in the children’s ministries and on the Church Governance Committee and has participated in several mission trips to Guatemala to support an orphanage her church sponsors. She also volunteers for Hope Network, a non-profit her church sponsors. During the pandemic, she started a singing group called the Corona Singers to visit and sing to elderly people who were shut in and unable to get out during the lockdown.

She is a frequent speaker for continuing legal education programs where she has taught other lawyers at the UMKC Law School, Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, Clay County Bar Association and Eastern Jackson County Bar Association.

With both a prosecution and defense background and having worked in the Lee’s Summit Municipal Court for 17 years, Venessa is uniquely situated to being the next Lee’s Summit Municipal Court Judge. She has the background, experience and first-hand knowledge of the Lee’s Summit Municipal Court system which makes her highly qualified to be the next Lee’s Summit Municipal Court Judge. She understands that being a judge isn’t a typical job; it is an opportunity to make a difference in her community. Serving as a Lee’s Summit Municipal Judge would offer her an opportunity to help all members of the community by ensuring that our laws are followed and respected and that all citizens have the opportunity to be heard and treated fairly and impartially. She has been endorsed by the Lee’s Summit Police Officer’s Association and by S.E.T, Strengthening Education Together.

For more information, you can follow her on Facebook: Venessa Maxwell-Lopez for Lee’s Summit Judge. Please visit her website at: maxwell-lopezforlsjudge.com.