Minnesota Court of Appeals

Minnesota Court of Appeals
Court information
Judges:	19
Judicial selection
Method:	Non-partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years
Active judges
Thomas Kalitowski  •  Roger Klaphake  •  Randolph Peterson  •  Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks  •  Terri Stoneburner  •  Natalie Hudson  •  Renee Worke  •  Kevin Ross  •  Heidi Schellhas  •  Francis Connolly  •  Matthew Johnson  •  Michelle Ann Larkin  •  Louise Bjorkman  •  Lawrence Stauber  •  Carol A. Hooten  •  Edward J. Cleary  •  John R. Rodenberg  •  Michael Kirk  •  John P. Smith  •  Margaret Chutich  •

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The Minnesota Court of Appeals was created in 1983; it is the intermediate appellate court in Minnesota and was designed to relieve the volume of cases that go to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Overview

It is the responsibility of the Court of Appeals to provide citizens with prompt and deliberate review of all final decisions of the trial courts, state agencies and local governments. Exceptions to this, which go directly to the Minnesota Supreme Court, are appeals from the Minnesota Tax Court, the Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, first-degree murder cases and statewide election contests.

Court of Appeals' decisions are the final ruling in about 95 percent of the 2,000 to 2,400 appeals filed every year. Typically, about five percent of the court's decisions are accepted by the Minnesota Supreme Court for further review.

The Court of Appeals issues a published or an unpublished or an order opinion on each case it considers. In addition, each judge participates in about 300 cases each year. The judges also share responsibility for hundreds of special term opinions and orders on motions and petitions filed with the court.

The court reviews appeals in a timely manner. By law, the court must issue a decision within 90 days after oral arguments. If no oral argument is held a decision is due within 90 days of the case's scheduled conference date. This deadline is the shortest imposed on any appellate court in the nation. The court expedites decisions on child custody cases, mental health commitments and other matters in which the parties request accelerated response.

Judges of the court

As part of the court's effort to expedite justice and to make access to the appellate system less burdensome and expensive, the court's 19 judges sit in three-judge panels and travel to locations throughout Minnesota to hear oral arguments, which are open to the public. They serve 6 year terms.

Judge	Term	Division	Appointed by	Party
Judge Thomas Kalitowski	1987–2015		Gov. Rudy Perpich
Judge Roger Klaphake
Judge Randolph Peterson	1990-2016
Judge Jill Flaskamp Halbrooks	1998-present
Judge Terri Stoneburner	2000-2015		Gov. Jesse Ventura
Judge Natalie Hudson	2002–2017
Judge Renee Worke	2005-2018
Judge Kevin Ross	2006-2014		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Heidi Schellhas	2008-2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Francis Connolly	2008–2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Chief Judge Matthew Johnson	2008–2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Michelle Ann Larkin	2008-2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Louise Bjorkman	2008-2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Lawrence Stauber	2008-2017		Gov. Tim Pawlenty
Judge Carol A. Hooten	2012-2015		Gov. Mark Dayton
Judge Edward J. Cleary	2011-2014		Gov. Mark Dayton
Judge At-Large John R. Rodenberg	2011-present		Gov. Mark Dayton
Judge Michael Kirk	2012-2014
Judge At-Large John P. Smith	2012-present		Gov. Mark Dayton
Judge At-Large Margaret Chutich	2011-2015		Gov. Mark Dayton

Former judges

• David Minge

See also

• Minnesota Supreme Court
• News: Chutich and Rodenberg appointed to Minnesota Court of Appeals, December 28, 2011

External links

• Minnesota Court of Appeals

References