Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for a Tenth Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in Wright County. The vacancy is as a result of the resignation of the Honorable Michelle A. Larkin on July 14, 2008 to be sworn in as a Judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The Minnesota Supreme Court certified the continuation of the chambers of this position for the city of Buffalo in Wright County.

Four current finalists for a previously-announced Wright County vacancy will also be considered for this position. They are Michele A. Davis, James B. Fleming, John E. Hennen, and Thomas N. Price. In addition, the Governor will also consider Mark W. Malzahn, Cynthia Spence Matt, and Geoffrey W. Tenney for this position.

Davis, of Ramsey, is an assistant Anoka County attorney, a position she has held since 2000. She was an assistant St. Paul City Attorney from 1998 to 2000. Davis earned her juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1998, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of St. Thomas in 1993.

Fleming, of Monticello, is a self-employed attorney and a part-time assistant public defender in the Tenth Judicial District Public Defender’s office in Anoka County, positions he has held since 2007. He was an attorney and partner in the Monticello law firm of Metcalf, Larson, Muth and Fleming from 2001 through 2006, a solo practitioner in Monticello from 1994 to 2001, an associate attorney with the Bernick and Lifson law firm in Golden Valley from 1991 to 1994, an attorney and partner in the Dawson and Fleming law firm in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1988 to 1991, and an associate attorney with the Peterson and Nelson law firm in Lincoln from 1984 to 1988.

Fleming earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law in Lincoln in 1984, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Nebraska – Kearney in 1978. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Fleming held a number of positions in law enforcement in Nebraska from 1972 to 1982.

Hennen, of Woodbury, is a senior defense attorney with the League of Minnesota Cities. He has been an attorney, defense litigation supervisor, and senior defense attorney with the League since 1984, except from 1985 to 1986 when he was an attorney with the Mardell Law Office in Apple Valley. Hennen earned his juris doctorate degree from Syracuse University College of Law in New York in 1983, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Iowa in Iowa City in 1980.

Malzahn, of Elk River, is an attorney with Malzahn and Associates in Anoka, a position he has held since 1983. Malzahn earned his juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1983, and his bachelor of arts degree from St. Cloud State University in 1979.

Matt, of Buffalo, is a shareholder and the managing attorney with the Johnson, Larson, Peterson and Matt law firm in Buffalo. She has been the managing attorney since 2002, and previously was an associate attorney with the firm from 1998 to 2002. She was also a law clerk to Tenth Judicial District Judge Bruce R. Douglas in Wright County from 1996 to 1998. Matt earned her juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota School of Law in 1996, and her bachelor of science degree summa cum laude from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska in 1993.

Price, of Elk River, is an attorney in private practice and a part-time assistant public defender in the Tenth Judicial District Public Defender’s office in Wright County, positions he has held since 2006. Previously, he was an assistant Sherburne County attorney from 1978 to 2006, where he held positions as assistant county attorney, first assistant county attorney, and chief deputy county attorney. Price was also an attorney with the MacGibbon-Danforth Law Firm in Elk River from 1980 to 1984, a Wright and Sherburne County misdemeanor prosecutor from 1978 to 1979, and has served as a special appointed prosecutor for Anoka, Benton, Stearns and Wright counties. Price earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1977 and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1972.

Tenney, of Buffalo, is a self-employed attorney in Buffalo, a position he has held since 1998. He has also been the Buffalo city prosecutor since 2005. Tenney was a part-time Tenth Judicial District assistant Public Defender from 1999 through 2004, a Tribal prosecutor with the Spirit Lake Tribe in Fort Totten, North Dakota and an interim Tribal prosecutor with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Fort Yates, North Dakota from 1996 to 1998, and a law clerk to First Judicial District Judge Thomas G. McCarthy in Sibley County in 1996. Tenney earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law in Grand Forks in 1996, and his bachelor of arts degree from St. John’s University in Collegeville in 1993.

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 a total of 26 applications for this judicial vacancy.