Saint Paul - Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced that he has accepted the recommendations of the Commission on Judicial Selection for three trial court bench vacancies in the Fourth Judicial District in Hennepin County. 

The first vacancy occurred with the resignation of the Honorable Jeanne J. Graham on September 23, 2005.  The second vacancy occurred with the retirement of the Honorable Diana S. Eagon on November 4, 2005, and the third vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable Steven Z. Lange on February 3, 2006.

The finalists are Toddrick S. Barnette, Peter A. Cahill, Margaret H. Chutich, Daniel C. Moreno, Jeannice M. Reding, Susan M. Robiner, and Robert M. Small.

Barnette, of Maple Grove, is a senior assistant Hennepin County attorney in Minneapolis, a position he has held since 2004.  He was an assistant Fourth Judicial District public defender in Hennepin County from 1993 to 2004, becoming senior attorney in that office in 2001.  He was also a law clerk in the Hennepin County public defender's office from 1991 to 1992.  Barnette earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1992, and his bachelor of arts degree from George Washington University in Washington, DC in 1988.

Cahill, of Plymouth, is the chief deputy Hennepin County attorney in Minneapolis, a position he has held since 2000.  He has been an attorney in the Hennepin County attorney's office since 1997.  He was the founder and chief executive officer of The Blue Pages, Inc., from 1996 to 1997, a solo practitioner in Wayzata from 1993 to 1997, an attorney and partner with the law firm of Colich and Cahill in Minneapolis from 1988 to 1993, an associate attorney with the law firm of Colich and Wieland in Minneapolis from 1987 to 1988, and an assistant Fourth Judicial District public defender in Hennepin County from 1984 to 1987.  Cahill earned his juris doctorate degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1984, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts in 1981.

Chutich, of Minneapolis, is an assistant attorney general in the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General in St. Paul.  She was an assistant attorney general from 1992 to 1994, and again since 1996, serving as deputy attorney general from 1996 to 1998 and executive counsel in 1999.  She was an assistant United States Attorney in Minneapolis from 1994 to 1996; an attorney with the law firm of Tanick and Heins and its successor firm, Opperman, Heins and Paquin, from 1986 to 1991; and a law clerk for U.S. District Judge Diana E. Murphy from 1984 to 1986.  Chutich earned her juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1984, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1980.

Moreno, of Minneapolis, is an assistant Fourth Judicial District public defender in Hennepin County, a position he has held since 1991.  He was also a law clerk in the Hennepin County public defender's office from 1987 to 1990.  Moreno earned his juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1990, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1986.

Reding, of Plymouth, is a Fourth Judicial District referee, in the family court division.  She has also been a Fourth Judicial District contract child support magistrate from 1999 to 2004; a contract administrative law judge with the Office of Administrative Hearings from 1997 to 1999; and an attorney with the law firm of Best and Flanagan in Minneapolis from 1990 to 1997. Reding earned her juris doctorate degree cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1990 and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison in 1984.

Robiner, of Minneapolis, is an attorney and shareholder with the law firm of Leonard, Street and Deinard in Minneapolis.  She was an attorney with the firm from 1985 to 2000 (becoming a shareholder in 1993), and again since 2001.  She was also an attorney and partner with the law firm of Sprenger and Lang in Minneapolis from 2000 to 2001.  Robiner earned her juris doctorate degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, DC in 1985, and her bachelor of arts degree from Carleton College in Northfield in 1981.

Small, of Richfield, is the first assistant United States attorney in Minneapolis, a position he has held since 1998, except during 2001, when he was the acting United States attorney for the district of Minnesota.  He has been an attorney in the U.S. Attorney's office since 1981.  He was the administrative assistant to the chief of staff with the United States Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis from 1980 to 1981, and an attorney in the Veterans Administration Office of District Counsel at Fort Snelling from 1975 to 1980.  Small earned his juris doctorate degree from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1975, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of St. Thomas (then called the College of St. Thomas) in St. Paul in 1971.

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 47 applications for these three judicial vacancies.