ST. JAMES — Gov. Tim Pawlenty traveled though southwestern Minnesota Wednesday morning, appointing two area attorneys to two different district court benches.
The governor announced Redwood County Attorney Michelle Dietrich will fill a judgeship in Lyon and Lincoln counties and local public defender Greg Anderson will sit in Watonwan County.
The appointments were announced as a part of a short series of visits the governor made Wednesday morning. Pawlenty began his day in Marshall, where he spoke a Southwest Minnesota State University before announcing his appointment of Dietrich, who will succeed retiring Chief Judge George Harrelson.
The governor then traveled to St. James, where he announced Anderson would fill the new judgeship created to help the Fifth Judicial District deal with a high load of cases in Watonwan County.
Following the announcement, the governor left for Eden Prairie, where he spoke to the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce at noon.
“We look for people who are skilled and experienced and that have the right temperament and Mr. Anderson had all of that,” Pawlenty said in St. James after making the announcement.
“I’m very honored by the appointment, and I’ll do my best to be the best judge I can be,” Anderson said.
Nicollet County District Court Judge Allison Krehbiel, who once served as the trial court judge for Watonwan County, attended the press conference where Pawlenty made the announcement.
“I’m just glad Watonwan County got such a fine judge,” Krehbiel said.
According to John Hultquist, the governor’s director of judicial appointments, neither judge has a definite swearing-in date yet because their start times have not yet been arranged.
Anderson became an assistant public defender working out of Mankato in 1994. He was an assistant Mankato city attorney from 1989 to 1994 and a law clerk in that city from 1987 to 1989. He earned his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1987 and his B.A. degree from the university in 1984.
He belongs to the Mankato Area Youth Symphony board and is an assistant scoutmaster and fund-raising chair of Boy Scout Troop 29. He teaches Sunday school at Belgrade Avenue United Methodist Church and has coached youth soccer, basketball, tee-ball and baseball.
Dietrich became Redwood County Attorney in 1997. She was an assistant county attorney in that office from 1994 to 1997. She was a law clerk in the Ninth Judicial District from 1994 to 1995. She earned her juris doctorate from Hamline University School of Law in 1994 and earned her B.A. degree from Central University of Iowa in Pella in 1991.
She is a member of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, the National District Attorneys Association, the national, state and Redwood County Bar Associations and the Minnesota Family Support and Recovery Council. She has taught peace officers standards and training courses, served as a mock trial judge and is on a number of Redwood County government committees, including the jail, law library and Sentenced To Service committees, as well as the county child protection team and Children’s Justice Initiative.
Dietrich could not be reached for comment.
