Saint Paul -- Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Renee L. Worke to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of the Honorable James C. Harten, whose retirement was effective on March 31, 2005. This position is for a judge from the First Congressional District.

Worke is the chief judge of the Third Judicial District. She has been a Third Judicial District trial court judge chambered in Waseca County since 1996 and has been chief judge of the district since 2002 and was assistant chief judge from 2001 through 2002. Prior to her appointment to the bench in 1996, Worke was an attorney with the Owatonna law firm of Rietz, Rietz, Rietz and Worke from 1984 to 1996. Worke also served as a part-time contract Third Judicial District public defender from 1984 to 1996 and a part-time contract Administrative Law Judge in the child support division from 1994 to 1996. She was a Third Judicial District law clerk for the Honorable Urban J. Steimann in Faribault from 1983 to 1984. Worke earned her juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1983 and her bachelor of science degree magna cum laude from Minnesota State University, Mankato, in 1980.

"Judge Worke has proven herself as an outstanding jurist and a leader among judges," Governor Pawlenty said. "In addition, her work on the Conference of Chief Judge and as a member of the redistricting panel has demonstrated her ability to work well with others. Judge Worke will bring her intelligence, experience and collegiality to the Court of Appeals and be an exceptional addition to that court."

Worke was recently re-elected to a second full term as chief judge of the Third Judicial District and serves as vice chair of the state Conference of Chief Judges. She is also a member of the Supreme Court's Transformation Workgroup, lead judge for the Children's Justice Initiative and served as a member of the Supreme Court-appointed Legislative Redistricting Panel. In 2002, Worke received the Minnesota State Bar Association Public Law Section's Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence. She is also a coach and team manager of Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination, and is active in the Rotary Club of Waseca, the Boy Scouts, and the University of Minnesota Extension Steering Committee.

Worke, 46, was born and raised in Waseca and lives in Owatonna with her husband, Mark Ditlevson, and their two sons, Rosy, 14, and Mick, 9.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of trial courts other than conciliation courts except for appeals in election contests, convictions of murder in the first degree and appeals from the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals and the Tax Court, which are appealed directly to the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeals consists of 16 judges; eight judges who serve at-large, and eight judges who are initially appointed -- one each -- from the state's eight congressional districts.