Minneapolis – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced the appointment of Tamara G. Garcia, Fred Karasov, Anne K. McKeig, and Laurie J. Miller to four Fourth Judicial District trial court bench vacancies in Hennepin County. Three vacancies occurred with the resignations of the Honorable Heidi S. Schellhas and the Honorable Francis J. Connolly, who were sworn in as Court of Appeals judges on January 1, 2008; and the retirement of the Honorable Harry Seymour Crump. The effective date of Judges Schellhas and Connolly’s resignations and Judge Crump’s retirement was December 31, 2007. The fourth vacancy will occur with the retirement of the Honorable Allen Oleisky on March 31, 2008.

“Tami, Fred, Anne and Laurie bring a wealth of professional experience and have the skills and demeanor for the position,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Their commitment to public service, strong work ethic, and diverse backgrounds will be an asset to the Hennepin County bench.”

Garcia has been a self-employed attorney in private practice since 2000; a judicial hearing examiner with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Shakopee since 1995; a judicial hearing examiner with AMERIND Risk Management Corporation in Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico since 2007; and a director with the State Fund Mutual Insurance Company in Bloomington since 2000. Previously, she was an associate attorney and partner with the Pustorino, Pederson, Tilton and Parrington law firm in Edina from 1989 to 2000, and a staff attorney with the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Court of Appeals in St. Paul from 1987 to 1989. Garcia earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1986, and her bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1983.

Garcia is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, where she served on the Board of Governors; Hennepin County Bar Association, where she serves on the Workers’ Compensation Section, and was a founding member of the Diversity Law Section; Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association; and Minnesota Women Lawyers. She is a member of the Minnesota Gambling Control Board, has been a mentor with the University of Minnesota Law School Mentor Program, volunteers in a reading program for elementary and preschool students, has been a volunteer moot court judge with the National Hispanic Bar Association, volunteers at her children’s schools, and is a participant in the Susan G. Kommen Race for the Cure.

Garcia, 46, was born in Tampa, Florida, and lives in Eden Prairie with her husband, Steven.

Karasov is the senior attorney in the violent crimes division of the Hennepin County Attorney’s office, and has been an attorney in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office since 1983. He is also a military judge with the Minnesota Army National Guard, a position he has held since 2000, and was a staff judge advocate with the National Guard from 1988 to 2000. He served in Kosovo from 2003 to 2004 as a member of the National Guard. Prior to earning his law degree, Karasov was a senior deputy Hennepin County Sheriff from 1978 to 1982. Karasov earned his juris doctorate degree cum laude from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul in 1982, his master of science degree from Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978, and his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 1976.

Karasov is a member of the Minnesota State, and Hennepin County Bar Associations, and the National Guard Officers’ Association. He is a member of the Beyond the Yellow Ribbon Task Force, Minnesota Sex Crimes Investigators Advisory Board, and was a member of the Domestic Abuse Fatality Review Committee, and CornerHouse child abuse victims center. He has written a sexual assault prosecution manual and spoke at numerous seminars on the subject. He has been a moot court judge and mock trial coach and judge; has been a soccer, softball and wrestling coach; volunteers with Sharing and Caring Hands, participates annually in Adopt a Family; serves food to nursing home residents at holidays; and participates in the Back-to-School Backpack Challenge, which provides school supplies and clothes for children in need.

Karasov, 54, was born in Minneapolis, where lives with his wife, Cathy. He has a daughter, Danielle, 18, and four stepchildren, Emily, Katie, Maggie, and Dan.

McKeig is an assistant county attorney in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office in Minneapolis, a position she has held since 1992. She has specialized in Federal Indian Child Welfare Act cases in the office. McKeig was also a part-time staff attorney with the American Prosecutors Research Institute, which is part of the National District Attorney’s Association, in January 2007. McKeig earned her juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul in 1992, and her bachelor of arts degree from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul in 1989.

McKeig is a member of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association, and the Minnesota County Attorneys Association and was a member of Hennepin County Bar Association. She has been a speaker on child protection issues, and a trainer for the Minnesota Department of Human Services on the civil process of juvenile court and child protection matters. She volunteers for the Division of Indian Work, is a mentor for the College of St. Catherine Shadow Program, and a mentor for high school students through Northland High School’s Indian Education Program. McKeig also served on the Governor’s Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Minnesota Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and Fetal Alcohol Coordinating Board.

McKeig, 40, was born in St. Paul and lives in Brooklyn Park with her husband and their five children.

Miller is an attorney and shareholder in the litigation department of the Fredrikson and Byron law firm in Minneapolis. She has been an attorney with the firm since 1989. Previously, she was an attorney with the Dunlap and Seeger (then known as Dunlap, Keith, Finseth, Berndt and Sandberg) law firm in Rochester from 1986 to 1989, an attorney with the Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe law firm in San Francisco, California from 1983 to 1986, and a law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals Eighth Circuit Judges Myron H. Bright and Richard S. Arnold in St. Louis, Missouri from 1981 to 1983. Miller earned her juris doctorate degree from Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1981 where she was a finalist in the Barrister’s Union mock trial competition, and her bachelor of arts degree from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California in 1978.

Miller is a member of the Federal, American, Minnesota State, and Hennepin County Bar Associations, Minnesota Defense Lawyers Association, and Defense Research Institute. She has been a law school mock trial judge, has been a speaker at a variety of continuing legal education seminars, and has written a number of articles that have appeared in legal and other professional publications. She chairs the Housing Preservation Project Board of Directors, volunteers for Children’s Law Center of Minnesota, and Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights.

Miller, 50, was born in Plentywood, Montana, and lives in Edina with her husband, Scott Sakaguchi, and their three children, Peter, 13, Kirsten, 11, and Patrick, 6.