InMinnesota, there is a single federal district court, a state supreme court, a state court of appeals, and trial courts with both general and limited jurisdiction. These courts serve different purposes, which are outlined in the sections below.

Click a link for information about that court type.

• Federal courts
• State supreme court
• State court of appeals
• Trial courts

The image below depicts the flow of cases through Minnesota's state court system. Cases typically originate in the trial courts and can be appealed to courts higher up in the system.

The structure of Minnesota's state court system.

Judicial selection process

See also:Minnesota judicial elections andJudicial selection in Minnesota

Judges inMinnesota participate innonpartisan elections in even-numbered years.^[1]

Thestate constitution reads that judges “shall be elected by the voters from the area which they are to serve.”^[2] Under the Minnesota Constitution, judges' terms begin and end on the first Monday in January following election. Judges serve six-year terms.^[3]

Judges who sit on the federal district courts are nominated by thepresident of the United States and confirmed by theUnited States Senate. These judges serve life terms. To read more about the judges on these courts, clickhere.

To read more about judicial elections in Minnesota,click here.

Federal courts

Thefederal district court in Minnesota is theUnited States District Court for the District of Minnesota.

Appeals from these districts go to theU.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit.

Active judges

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 3

Bankruptcy courts

There is onefederal bankruptcy court in Minnesota. These courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. The federal bankruptcy court in Minnesota is:

• United States bankruptcy court, District of Minnesota

State supreme court

See also:Minnesota Supreme Court

Founded in 1858, theMinnesota Supreme Court is the state'scourt of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court isNatalie Hudson.The state supreme court hears appeals from theMinnesota Court of Appeals,Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals,Minnesota Tax Court, Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and Board of Judicial Standards. The court also takes direct appeals for first degree murder and election contest appeals. Additionally, the supreme court has jurisdiction over the administration of the state's judicial system.^[4]

The chief justice is the administrative head of the judicial branch and supervises the work of all courts and theMinnesota judicial council. The state court administrator is appointed by the chief justice and the judicial council. The following positions are also appointed by the court: supreme court commissioner, clerk of the appellate courts, and state law librarian.^[5]

The court oversees regulation of the practice of law and it resolves petitions filed by thelawyers for professional responsibility board. It also oversees judicial and lawyer discipline. Finally, the court creates rules and procedures for all courts in the state.^[6][7]

The table below lists the current judges of theMinnesota Supreme Court and the appointing governor.

State court of appeals

See also:Minnesota Court of Appeals

TheMinnesota Court of Appeals, created in 1983, is theintermediate appellate court inMinnesota and was designed to relieve the volume of cases that go to theMinnesota Supreme Court.^[8] The current chief judge of the court isJennifer Frisch.

The Court of Appeals reviews decisions of the trial courts, state agencies, and local governments. Exceptions to this, which go directly to theMinnesota Supreme Court, are appeals from theMinnesota Tax Court, theMinnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, first-degree murder cases and statewide election contests.^[8][9]

Typically 2,000 to 2,400 cases are filed with the Court of Appeals each year. TheMinnesota Supreme Court eventually hears about 5 percent of them.^[8]

According to the court's information office, "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."^[8][10]

Justices

According to the court's information office, "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."^[10] They serve six-year terms.^[2]

Trial courts

District courts

See also:Minnesota District Courts

TheMinnesota District Court System handles criminal, civil, and family cases in each ofMinnesota's 87 counties. The counties are divided into ten judicial districts. In 2008, the combined district court system heard about two million cases.^[11]

Section 3 of Article VI of the Minnesota Constitution defines the scope of the cases heard in Minnesota's district courts, saying, "The district court has original jurisdiction in all civil and criminal cases and shall have appellate jurisdiction as prescribed by law."

As of 2023, there were 296 District Court judges in Minnesota's district court system. These judges hear cases ranging from first-degree murder trials to civil and family conflicts to traffic tickets and citations. Some of the district courts are divided into departments, such as criminal, civil, probate,family, and juvenile departments.^[11][12]

Each of the ten judicial districts in the district court system is managed by a chief judge with the help of an assistant chief judge and a judicial district administrator.^[11]

In other states

See also

• Judicial selection in Minnesota
• Minnesota judicial elections

External links

Suggest a link

• Search Google News for this topic
• Minnesota Judicial Branch

Footnotes

v • e Courts by state Alabama •Alaska •Arizona •Arkansas •California •Colorado •Connecticut •Delaware •Florida •Georgia •Hawaii •Idaho •Illinois •Indiana •Iowa •Kansas •Kentucky •Louisiana •Maine •Maryland •Massachusetts •Michigan •Minnesota •Mississippi •Missouri •Montana •Nebraska •Nevada •New Hampshire •New Jersey •New Mexico •New York •North Carolina •North Dakota •Ohio •Oklahoma •Oregon •Pennsylvania •Rhode Island •South Carolina •South Dakota •Tennessee •Texas •Utah •Vermont •Virginia •Washington •West Virginia •Wisconsin •Wyoming