Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for a Second Judicial District trial court bench vacancy in Ramsey County. The vacancy is as a result of the retirement of the Honorable Michael F. Fetsch on October 30, 2009. The finalists are Leonardo Castro, Mark P. Hodkinson, and Robyn A. Millenacker.

Castro, of White Bear Township, is the managing attorney in the Second Judicial District Public Defender’s office in Maplewood, a position he has held since January 2009. He has also been an adjunct professor at St. Thomas School of Law in St. Paul since 2004, and was an adjunct faculty at William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul from 2002 to 2003. Previously, Castro was the Fourth Judicial District Chief Public Defender in Hennepin County from 2001 through 2008, Fifth Judicial District Chief Public Defender from 1994 to 2001, an attorney with the Riha Law Office in Owatonna from 1992 to 1993, and served in the United States Air Force from 1981 to 1989. Castro earned his juris doctorate degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law in DeKalb in 1992, and his bachelor of science degree from the University of Maryland in 1988.

Hodkinson, of Shoreview, is an attorney and shareholder with the Bassford Remele law firm in Minneapolis. He was an associate attorney with the firm from 1985 to 1991, and became a shareholder in 1991. Previously, Hodkinson was a law clerk for U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge J. Earl Cudd in Minneapolis from 1984 to 1985, and while in law school he was a law clerk to Ramsey County District Judge Edward J. Mulally from 1981 to 1984. Hodkinson earned his juris doctorate degree magna cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1984, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1978.

Millenacker, of North Oaks, is an assistant United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota in Minneapolis, a position she has held since 1996. Previously, she was an assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California in Los Angeles from 1994 to 1996, an associate lawyer with the Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro law firm in San Jose and San Diego, California from 1989 to 1994, a judicial law clerk to U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Janice Symchych in St. Paul from 1988 to 1989, a law clerk with Pillsbury, Madison and Sutro in 1987 and a law clerk with the Hennepin County Attorney’s office in Minneapolis in 1986. Millenacker earned her juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1988, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1984.

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 27 applications for this judicial vacancy.