Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Conrad I. Freeberg, Frederick L. Grunke, and Frank J. Kundrat to three trial court bench vacancies in the Seventh Judicial District. Twenty-seven people applied for these positions.

The first vacancy occurred with the disability retirement of the Honorable Thomas A. Godzala on August 31, 2006. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the continuation of the chambers of this position for the city of Little Falls in Morrison County.

Freeberg is appointed to the Morrison County position. Freeberg is the Morrison County Attorney, a position he has held since 1987. He was an assistant Morrison County Attorney from 1984 to 1987, an associate attorney with the Little Falls law firm of Rosenmeier and Anderson from 1981 to 1984, an assistant St. Paul City Attorney in 1982, and a Ramsey County Court law clerk from 1977 to 1981. From 1969 to 1977, Freeberg was a history teacher at St. Charles Borromeo and Highland Catholic School. Freeberg earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1980, his master of arts (1970) and bachelor of arts (1968) from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul.

“During the 20 years that Conrad was the Morrison County Attorney, he distinguished himself as a man of integrity, fairness, and intelligence,” Governor Pawlenty said. “He will be an immediate asset to the bench for his knowledge of the laws, the Morrison County court system and the community.”

Freeberg is a member and past president of the Seventh District Bar Association; a member of the Minnesota and Morrison County Bar Associations; a member of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, where he served on its Board of Directors; member of the Morrison County Healthy Community Collaborative; and a member and former chair of the Morrison County Child Protection Team. He has also been a member of the Little Falls Area Chamber of Commerce; Unity Family Health Care Board of Directors; Central Minnesota Community Corrections Advisory Board, where he is a past chair; St. Cloud Diocese Catholic Charities Board of Directors; and the Great River Arts Association Board of Directors, which he chaired. Freeberg was the first recipient of the Minnesota State Bar Association’s “Public Attorney Award of Excellence”.

Freeberg, 59, was born in Red Wing, and lives in Little Falls with his wife, Mary Rae. They have three adult children, Tim, Joanna, and Patrick.

The second vacancy occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Bernard E. Boland on October 16, 2006. The third vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable Richard T. Jessen on March 7, 2007. The Supreme Court certified the continuation of the chambers of these positions for the city of St. Cloud in Stearns County. Grunke and Kundrat are appointed to the Stearns County positions.

Grunke is a shareholder with the law firm Rajkowski Hansmeier Ltd. in St. Cloud. He has been an attorney with the firm since 1984. He was also an associate attorney with the law firm Donohue Rajkowski in St. Cloud from 1979 through 1983, and a Seventh Judicial District law clerk in St. Cloud from 1978 to 1979. Grunke earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1978 and his bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa in 1975.

“Fred brings a wealth of trial experience to the Stearns County bench. He has tried cases that range from misdemeanor criminal prosecutions to complex civil products liability cases,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Fred’s work as a lawyer has earned him an excellent reputation among his colleagues. He will be a great judge.”

Grunke is a member of the American, Minnesota, and Stearns-Benton Bar Associations; Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association and American Arbitration Association. He has been named a “Super Lawyer” by Minnesota Law and Politics since 2000, and is listed in Leading American Attorneys. Grunke’s community activities include serving on the Central Minnesota Legal Services’ Volunteer Attorney Program Advisory Board, and the Peace United Church of Christ Mission Committee, where he helps plan and coordinate service projects, including Kids Against Hunger, Habitat for Humanity and hurricane relief.

Grunke, 53, was born in Hudson, Wisconsin, grew up in St. Paul, and lives in St. Cloud with his wife, Ann. They have three adult children, Sonja, Andrew, and Michael.

Kundrat owns Kundrat Law Office in St. Cloud. He has practiced law in that office since 1999, and serves as city attorney for Clear Lake, Clearwater, Dassel, Deerwood, and Ironton, as well as the attorney for numerous townships and other governmental entities. Kundrat has also been an adjunct professor of business law at St. Cloud State University. He was an attorney with the St. Cloud law firm of Hall and Byers from 1983 to 1999, chief, counsel (1981 to 1983), assistant director of law (1978 to 1981), and an assistant prosecutor (1976 to 1978) with the city of Shaker Heights, Ohio. Kundrat earned his juris doctor degree from Cleveland-Marshall Law College in Cleveland, Ohio in 1976, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1973.

“Frank has been able to balance an active law practice as a solo practitioner with a tremendous level of civic and community involvement,” Governor Pawlenty said. “The work he has done to try to help demystify the courts to the citizenry will serve him well as a judge."

Kundrat is a member of the Minnesota, Seventh District, and Stearns-Benton Bar Associations; the John E. Simonett Chapter of the American Inn of Court, and has served as a presenter for numerous continuing legal education seminars. Kundrat’s community activities include volunteering as a mediator for the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, volunteer trainer and mediator for the St. Cloud State University Mediation Center, volunteer legal advisor for Central Minnesota Legal Services, volunteer judge for the St. Cloud Catholic Diocese Tribunal, secretary of the Stearns County History Museum, legal counsel for Paramount Theatre Arts District in St. Cloud, and writing monthly opinion columns for the St. Cloud Times newspaper.

Kundrat, 55, was born in Cleveland, Ohio and lives in St. Cloud with his wife, Laura. They have three adult children, Robert, Lisa, and Kristen.