Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for a Third Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in Winona County. The vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable Margaret Shaw Johnson on May 13, 2008. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the continuation of the chambers of this judgeship for the city of Winona in Winona County. The finalists are Nancy Bostrack, Daniel J. Heuel, and Lisa R. Swenson.

Bostrack, of Winona, is an assistant Winona County Attorney, a position she has held since 1992. She was also an adjunct professor at Winona State University from 1996 to 2003. Bostrack earned her juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1991, and her bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1988.

Heuel, of Byron, is an attorney and partner in the O’Brien and Wolf Law Firm in Rochester. He has been an attorney with the firm since 2001. Previously, he was an attorney and partner with the Heuel, Carlson and Spelhaug Law Firm in Rochester from 1998 to 2001, an attorney and partner with the Muir and Heuel Law Firm in Rochester from 1980 to 1998, and an associate attorney with the Ross Muir Law Offices in Rochester from 1978 to 1980. Heuel earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1978, and his bachelor of arts degree summa cum laude from St. Mary’s University in Winona in 1974.

Swenson, of Rochester, is an associate attorney with George F. Restovich and Associates in Rochester, a position she has held since March 2008. She was a senior assistant Olmsted County Attorney from 2003 to 2008, and an assistant Winona County Attorney from 1995 to 2003. She has also been an adjunct professor at Winona State University in 1997 and from 1999 to 2001, and was a compliance officer with Norwest Bank in Rochester from 1994 to 1995. Swenson earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln in 1993, and her bachelor of arts degree magna cum laude from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska in 1988.

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 15 applications for this judicial vacancy.