Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Mark F. Hansen and Jay D. Carlson to two trial court bench vacancies in the Seventh Judicial District.

The first vacancy occurred with the death of the Honorable Thomas M. Stringer on January 19, 2006. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the continuation of the chambers of this position for the city of Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County. Hansen is appointed to the Otter Tail County position.

Hansen is an attorney and partner with the Wadena law firm of Hansen and Pederson, a position he has held since 1985. He is also a part-time assistant Wadena County Attorney; city attorney for Aldrich, Bertha, Sebeka, and Wadena; a prosecuting attorney for the cities of Menahga and Verndale; and township attorney for Blueberry Township and Deer Creek Township. Prior to forming Hansen and Pederson, Hansen was an associate attorney with the law firm of Kennedy and Nervig in Wadena from 1974 to 1985, and an Eighth Judicial District law clerk in Chippewa County from 1972 to 1974. Hansen earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1972, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul in 1969.

“Mark’s experience as both a civil and criminal practitioner will serve him well as a judge,” Governor Pawlenty said. “He also has the personal demeanor that will immediately put people as ease in the courtroom.”

Hansen is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where he currently chairs its Publications Committee. He is also a member and past president of the Seventh District Bar Association, and has served on the Seventh District Bar Ethics Committee. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, Minnesota Association of City Attorneys, Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, and American Trial Lawyers Association. Hansen’s community activities include serving on the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center Board of Directors, and the Wadena Lions Club, where he has served on its Board of Directors. He has also been president of the Wadena Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Wadena Library Board, Wadena/Deer Creek Dollars for Scholars, and held a number of volunteer positions with the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Wadena.

Hansen, 59, was born in Minneapolis and resides in Ottertail with his wife, Cathy. They have two adult children, Erik, and Kirsten, and one granddaughter, Sophia, 18 months.

The second vacancy occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Timothy J. Baland on April 4, 2006. The Supreme Court certified the chambers of this position for the city of Long Prairie in Todd County. Carlson is appointed to the Todd County position.

Carlson is an attorney in private practice with offices in Detroit Lakes and Fargo, North Dakota. In his practice, he represents the townships of Lake Eunice, Audubon, and Burlington, and the Cormorant Lakes Watershed District. He has been a self-employed attorney since 1979, except between 2003 and 2005, when he was an attorney and shareholder with the law firm of Ohnstad and Twichell. Carlson earned his juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1979, and his bachelor of arts degree cum laude from St. John’s University in Collegeville in 1976.

“Jay is a self-employed lawyer with a varied practice that takes him all over the Seventh Judicial District as well as the state,” Governor Pawlenty said. “His diverse professional background and ability to juggle the demands placed on a solo practitioner will serve him well in Todd County, which is a one-judge county.”

Carlson is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Becker County Bar Association, Minnesota Trial Lawyers Association, Big Cormorant Lake Association, Cormorant Lakes Watershed District Advisory Committee, St. Mary’s of the Lake Church, and Cormorant Lions Club.

Carlson, 52, was born in Topeka, Kansas, raised in Duluth and Moorhead, and lives in Big Cormorant Lake.