Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for a Ninth Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in Hubbard County that occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Jay D. Mondry on November 1, 2006. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the continuation of this vacancy for the city of Park Rapids in Hubbard County. The finalists are Earl E. Maus, Jay E. Sommer, and Robert D. Tiffany.

Maus, of Walker, is the Cass County Attorney, a position he has held since 1986. He was an assistant Cass County Attorney from 1984 to 1986, an assistant Beltrami County Attorney in 1983, and a law clerk in Ramsey County in 1982. Maus earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1982, and his bachelor of arts degree from Minnesota State University, St. Cloud (then known as St. Cloud State University) in 1977.

Sommer, of Walker, is the managing attorney in the Ninth Judicial District Public Defender’s office in Walker, a position he has held since 1996. He was a full-time assistant public defender in Walker in 1995, an attorney in private practice in Pine River as well as a part-time Ninth Judicial District Public Defender in Walker from 1988 to 1995, and a self-employed attorney in Elk River from 1986 to 1987. Sommer earned his juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1986, and his bachelor of science degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1982.

Tiffany, of Park Rapids, is an attorney and partner in the Park Rapids law firm of Wallace and Tiffany. He has been an attorney with the firm since 1996. Tiffany was the Redwood County Attorney from 1991 to 1996, and an associate attorney with the St. Paul law firm of Jardine, Logan and O’Brien from 1988 to 1991. Tiffany earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1987, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1982.

The Commission on Judicial Selection screens judicial candidates and makes recommendations to the Governor for district court vacancies that occur during the term of a judge. The commission consists of 13 members: nine at-large members and four members from the judicial district. The commission members include attorneys and non-attorneys appointed by the governor and the Minnesota Supreme Court. The commission received 16 applications for this judicial vacancy.