2008 Annual Report
District Courts
289 Judgeships, 10 Judicial Districts
Jurisdiction: Civil Actions, Criminal Cases, Family, Juvenile, Probate, Violations of City Ordinances
Appeals from: Conciliation Court*
Conciliation Division: Civil Disputes up to $7,500
*Called trial de novo - actually a new trial, not just a review of the conciliation court
2008 District Court Case Informa on
Major criminal (serious and other felony, gross misde‐ 61,292 meanor DWI, other gross misdemeanors)
Major civil (personal injury, contract, property damage, 43,380 harassment, other)
Probate/Mental Health (trust, guardianship/conservator, 16,834 commitment, estate/other probate)
Major Family (dissolu on w/child, dissolu on w/o child, 47,839 child support, domes c abuse, other family)
Juvenile (delinquency felony, delinquency gross misde‐ 53,063 meanor, juvenile pe y offender, dependency/neglect, truancy)
Major Case Total 222,408
Minor Civil (implied consent, unlawful detainer, concilia‐ 172,535 on)
Minor Criminal (5th degree assault, parking, non‐traffic 1,539,804 misdemeanor, pe y misdemeanor, misdemeanor DWI, other traffic)
Total 1,934,747
Minnesota Judicial Branch 15 2008 Annual Report
Court of Appeals
Chief Judge Edward Toussaint, Jr. 19 Members, 3-Judge Panels 1995 - present Judge Harriet Lansing Appeals from: 1983 - present Trial court decisions (except first-degree murder convictions) Judge R.A. “Jim” Randall 1984 - 2008 Decisions of Commissioner of Economic Security Judge Thomas Kalitowski Administrative agency decisions (except Tax Court & Workers’ 1987 - present Compensation Court) Judge Roger Klaphake 1989 - present Original Actions: Judge Randolph Peterson Writs of mandamus or prohibition, which order a trial judge or 1990 - present Judge Bruce Willis public official to perform a certain act such as permitting media 1995 - 2008 coverage of a hearing Judge Gordon Shumaker 1998 - present Judge Jill Flaskamp Hallbrooks 1998 - present Judge Terri Stoneburner 2008 Court of Appeals Case Informa on 2000 - present Judge David Minge 2002 - present Cases Filed Disposi ons Judge Natalie Hudson 2002 - present General Civil 629 660 Judge Wilhelmina Wright Criminal 765 827 2002 - present Judge Christopher Dietzen Administra ve Rule 3 2 2004 - 2008 Economic Security 172 230 Judge Renee Worke 2005 - present Writs ‐ Cer ori 92 110 Judge Kevin Ross Habeas / Cer fied Ques ons 18 31 2006 - present Judge Heidi Schellhas Commitment 52 47 2008 - present Judge Francis Connolly Family 190 228 2008 - present Juvenile Delinquency 36 36 Judge Matthew Johnson 2008 - present Juvenile Protec on 50 59 Judge Michelle Larkin Implied Consent 41 63 2008 - present Judge Larry Stauber, Jr. Discre onary Review / Writs 93 92 2008 - present Judge Louise Bjorkman 2008 - present Total 2,141 2,385
Minnesota Judicial Branch 16 2008 Annual Report
Supreme Court
7 members, En Banc panel
Appeals from: Court of Appeals decisions Trial court decisions if Supreme Court chooses to bypass the Court of Appeals Tax Court decisions, Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals
Original Actions: Review of all first-degree murder convictions Writs of Prohibition, Writs of Habeas Corpus, Writs of Mandamus Legislative election disputes
Chief Justice 2008 Supreme Court Case Informa on Eric Magnuson 2008 - present Direct Appeals Associate Justice Cases Filed Disposi ons Alan Page 1993 - present Workers’ Compensa on 25 21 Associate Justice Civil 12 3 Paul Anderson 1994 - present Tax Court 5 4 Associate Justice A orney Discipline 58 52 Helen Meyer 2002 - present Writs 5 6 Associate Justice First Degree Homicide 43 40 G. Barry Anderson Total Direct Appeals 148 126 2004 - present Associate Justice Pe ons for Further Review (PFR) Lorie Gildea Filed 619 2006 - present Denied 527 Associate Justice Christopher Dietzen Granted Further Review 81 2008 - present Other 15 Chief Justice Russell Anderson Disposi ons (PFR) 1998 - 2006; Affirmed 22 C.J. 2006 - 2008 Mixed 9 Remand / Reverse 28 Other Decision 1 Dismissal 1 Total (PFR) 61
Minnesota Judicial Branch 19