Rice “Pete” Burns Jr. practices law primarily in the areas of Federal Bankruptcy law, debtors and creditors rights, school law, and estate planning.

He is a graduate of Sikeston High School and received a B.S. Degree from Southeast Missouri State University. He received his J.D. Degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Missouri in 1974.

From 1969 until 1971 he served in the U.S. Army and received an Honorable Discharge.

He has been in the active practice of law since 1974. He has served as a panel Bankruptcy Trustee for the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri since 1992.

He has been a guest speaker at numerous continuing legal education programs for the Missouri Bar Association on matters involving Bankruptcy and Probate law. He is admitted to practice in the U.S. Courts for the Eastern District of Missouri and state courts in the State of Missouri. He is a member of the Missouri Bar and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees. He has represented debtors in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 cases. He has also represented creditors and creditor committees.

In 1994, Governor Mel Carnahan appointed Burns to the Missouri State Board of Education where he served until 2000. He has been President of the Sikeston Economic Development Board and President of the Sikeston Lions Club having been twice awarded the Melvin Jones Fellow Award for dedicated service to humanity. He has received numerous community awards including Honors Board at the Sikeston Public Schools, Honors Board Sikeston Park Board and Outstanding Young Men of America Awards from the Jaycees. He presently serves on the Board of the Community Sheltered Workshop in Sikeston, Missouri.

Burns is very active in his church and community. He is married and has three children and three grandchildren.