The Minnesota State Court system consists of
the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the District Courts, the
Workers Compensation Court of Appeals and the Minnesota Tax Court.
The District Court is the primary trial court
throughout the state. It is organized into 10 districts, of which
the 4th Judicial District (Hennepin County District
Court) is the largest. It is one of only two judicial districts
that are made up of a single county; Ramsey County District Court
is the other. Of the 257 judges serving in the District Courts, 61
judges are assigned to Hennepin County. Hennepin County District
court serves the public in four locations: Downtown, Brookdale,
Ridgedale and Southdale.
The Hennepin County District Court is divided
into several blocks, in which judges serve for varying amounts of
time. Those areas are Civil, Criminal, Conciliation, Family,
Housing, Probate/Mental
Health, Drug Court and Juvenile
Court.
The
Drug, Family, Housing, Juvenile and Probate/Mental Health Courts
also have referees. A referee is a judicial officer to whom a
pending case in district court is referred to take testimony, hear
the parties and report to the court. Typically, referees have
jurisdiction to dispose of non-contested cases.
Judges are assigned to each of the divisions by
the chief judge. Typically, a judge will preside for about two
years for a particular assignment, although this may vary,
depending on the needs of the court. Most judges have both civil
and criminal blocks of cases. Each judge’s page on this Web site
lists the judge’s past and current assignments.
Judges begin serving on the bench after being
appointed or elected. Officially Minnesota judges are elected by
the people. In actual fact, also by provision of the state
constitution, most district court judges are appointed by the
governor when a vacancy occurs; only rarely is a new member of the
bench elected through a contested election without a prior
appointment. Each newly appointed judge serves until the next
general election occurring more than one year after the initial
appointment, and then must stand for election. After being
elected, each judge serves for a six-year term. Other judicial
candidates may challenge an incumbent judge for the judgeship.
There are no limits on the number of times a person may run for
judicial office.
For more on judicial
elections:
