Minnesota Supreme Court justice vacancy (July 2024)
| Minnesota Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Chutich vacancy |
| Date: July 31, 2024 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Theodora Gaïtas |
| Date: April 22, 2024 |
Governor Tim Walz (D) appointed Theodora Gaïtas to the Minnesota Supreme Court on April 22, 2024. She took office on August 1, 2024.[1]
Gaïtas replaced Justice Margaret Chutich, who retired on July 31, 2024. Gaïtas is Governor Walz's fifth nominee to the seven-member supreme court.
In Minnesota, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
Interim vacancies on the supreme court are filled via gubernatorial appointment. After serving for at least one year, the appointed judge can run for a full term in the next general election.[2] Other candidates may file to run against them in the election.[3]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Minnesota Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2024.
The appointee
- See also: Theodora Gaïtas
On April 22, 2024, Governor Tim Walz appointed Theodora Gaïtas to the Minnesota Supreme Court. She took office on August 1, 2024.[1]
Gaïtas received her B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1991 and her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1994.[4][5]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Minnesota
In Minnesota, state supreme court justices are elected in nonpartisan elections. There are 13 states that use this selection method. To read more about the nonpartisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Minnesota Supreme Court
Justices
Following Chutich's retirement, the Minnesota Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Natalie Hudson | Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) in 2023 | |
| ■ Gordon Moore | Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) in 2020 | |
| ■ Paul Thissen | Appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton (D) in 2018 | |
| ■ Anne K. McKeig | Appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton (D) in 2016, and elected in 2018 | |
| ■ Karl Procaccini | Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) in 2023 | |
| ■ Sarah Hennesy | Appointed by Gov. Tim Walz (D) in 2024 |
About the court
Founded in 1858, the Minnesota Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Natalie Hudson.
About Justice Chutich
- See also: Margaret Chutich
Chutich received an undergraduate degree from the University of Minnesota in 1980 and an J.D. from the University of Michigan in 1984.[6] Before serving on the Minnesota Supreme Court, she was a judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Prior to being a judge, she worked as an assistant dean at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, in the Minnesota Attorney General's Office, and as an assistant United States attorney in the District of Minnesota.[6]
Upon her appointment to the Minnesota Supreme Court, Chutich became the first openly gay member of the state's supreme court.[7]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2024
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2024
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2024. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2023.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Minnesota Reformer, "Walz appoints two Supreme Court justices, solidifying an all DFL-appointed court ," April 22, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedMNselect - ↑ The Office of the Revisor of Statutes, "Constitution of the State of Minnesota," accessed August 8, 2016
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio1 - ↑ Minnesota Judicial Branch, "Judge Theodora Gaïtas," last accessed August 26, 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedprofile - ↑ WDAZ 8, "First openly gay member appointed to Supreme Court: Minnesota's Margaret Chutich", January 22, 2016
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Minnesota • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Minnesota
State courts:
Minnesota Supreme Court • Minnesota Court of Appeals • Minnesota District Courts • Minnesota Problem-Solving Courts • Minnesota Tax Court • Minnesota Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals
State resources:
Courts in Minnesota • Minnesota judicial elections • Judicial selection in Minnesota
| |||||||
