Buffalo – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Michele A. Davis and Geoffrey W. Tenney to two Tenth Judicial District trial court bench vacancies in the city of Buffalo in Wright County. The vacancies occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Kim R. Johnson, and the resignation of the Honorable Michelle A. Larkin, who was sworn in as a judge of the Minnesota Court of Appeals.

Davis 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.

“Michele has extensive court and jury trial experience and has tried some of the county’s most difficult and challenging cases,” Governor Pawlenty said. “She has the reputation of being very smart, well-prepared, and respectful of everyone in the process.”

Davis is a member of the American, Minnesota State, and Anoka County Bar Associations; the National District Attorneys Association; 21st District Ethics Committee; and Anoka County Fire Investigation Team. She has been a presenter at numerous continuing legal education seminars, and has conducted a variety of training programs for law enforcement.

Davis, 37, was born in Fridley, and lives in Ramsey with her husband, Edward Siemek.

Tenney 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.

“Geoff is very well-suited for a judgeship in Buffalo. He lives in Buffalo, his law practice is in Buffalo, and he is active in the Buffalo community,” Governor Pawlenty said. “In his interactions with others within as well as outside the legal community, Geoff has conducted himself in a respectful manner, which will serve him well as a judge.”

Tenney is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, and the 18th District Bar Association, where he served as president. He is a volunteer firefighter with the Buffalo Fire Department, a volunteer and sponsor with the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, mock trial judge, and is active with Buffalo’s National Night Out. He has also been a sponsor and supporter of the Wright County Community Health Foundation, a committee member with Buffalo Days Parade, and a speaker in Parenting Through Divorce classes in Wright County.

Tenney, 37, was born in Minneapolis and lives in Buffalo.