Candidates Being Considered to fill Vacancy in MN Eight Judicial District

The Commission on Judicial Selection has announced that it is recommending three candidates for consideration to fill the vacancy in Minnesota’s Eighth Judicial District. The vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the Honorable Thomas W. Van Hon. 

The seat will be chambered in Montevideo in Chippewa County. Assistant Meeker County Attorney John Fitzgerald is one of the three candidates. He supervises attorneys and support staff in the prosecution of a wide array of criminal matters. In addition to his supervisory role, John prosecutes a variety of misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor, and felony-level offenses. 

Fitzgerald was previously a law clerk for the Honorable Kristine R. DeMay in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District. His community involvement includes serving as chair of the Meeker Area Food Shelf.  He’s also an active member of the Litchfield Lion’s Club, where he sits on the board of directors as a past president and assists with various fundraising and other community service projects.

The other candidates include Benjamin Pieh, an assistant public defender in the Eighth Judicial District Public Defender’s Office, and Heidi Torvik – an attorney at Lommen-Abdo – and former assistant county attorney in Chippewa County.