Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for two trial court bench vacancies in the Seventh Judicial District.

The first vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable John E. Pearson on September 7, 2007. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the chambers of this judgeship for the city of Alexandria in Douglas County.

The second judgeship is a new position created by the 2007 Minnesota Legislature (2007 Minnesota Laws, Chapter 54, Article 1, Section 5), which takes effect on January 1, 2008. The Supreme Court has certified the chambers of this position for the city of Little Falls in Morrison County.

The finalists are Douglas P. Anderson, Kevin S. Carpenter, Ann L. Carrott, Mark Hansen, and Leonard A. Weiler.

Anderson, of Little Falls, is an attorney and partner with the Little Falls law firm of Rosenmeier, Anderson and Vogel. He has been an attorney with the firm and its predecessors, Rosenmeier and Simonett, and Rosenmeier and Anderson, since 1975. Anderson earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1975 and his bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota – Duluth, in 1972.

Carpenter, of St. Cloud, has been a solo practitioner in St. Cloud since 1999. He was a partner with the St. Cloud law firm of Holmen and Carpenter from 1997 to 1999, and an attorney with the St. Cloud law firm of Quinlivan, Sherwood, Spellacy and Tarvestad from 1980 to 1997, where he became a shareholder in 1987. He was also a Seventh Judicial District law clerk in St. Cloud from 1979 to 1980, and a law clerk for the Duncan, Jones, Riley and Finley law firm in Des Moines, Iowa in 1979. Carpenter earned his juris doctor degree from St. Louis University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri in 1979, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from St. John’s University in Collegeville in 1976.

Carrott, of Alexandria, is an attorney with the Alexandria law firm of Swenson, Lervick, Syverson, Trosvig, Jacobson, a position she has held since 1997. She was the Douglas County Attorney in Alexandria from 1984 to 1996, and an assistant Morrison County Attorney in Little Falls from 1981 to 1984. Carrott earned her juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1980, and her bachelor of arts degree from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin in 1973.

Hansen, of St. Cloud, is an assistant St. Cloud city attorney, a position he has held since 2003, as well as a deputy staff judge advocate with the Minnesota Air National Guard, a position he has held since 2005. He was an assistant Seventh Judicial District public defender in St. Cloud from 1999 to 2003, and an assistant Fifth Judicial District public defender in Worthington from 1995 to 1999. Hansen earned his juris doctorate degree from Valparaiso University School of Law in Valparaiso, Indiana, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Concordia College in Moorhead in 1990.

Weiler, of Sartell, is the managing attorney of the Seventh Judicial District public defender’s office in St. Cloud, a position he has held since 1996. He has been an assistant Seventh Judicial District public defender in St. Cloud since 1991, and was the head law clerk and an investigator with the Ramsey County public defender’s office in St. Paul from 1990 to 1991. Weiler earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1991, and his bachelor of arts degree from Moorhead State University in 1985.

The Commission on Judicial Selection screens judicial candidates and makes recommendations to the Governor for district court vacancies that occur during the term of a judge. The commission consists of 13 members: nine at-large members and four members from the judicial district. The commission members include attorneys and non-attorneys appointed by the governor and the Minnesota Supreme Court. The commission received a total of 26 applications for these two judicial vacancies.