News Item
Fifth Judicial District Chief Judge and Assistant Chief Judge re-elected

Posted: Wednesday, April 17, 2019

The Honorable Michelle A. Dietrich has been re-elected to serve as chief judge of Minnesota’s Fifth Judicial District by her fellow judges. Assistant Chief Judge Gregory Anderson was also re-elected to his position as Assistant Chief Judge. Both will begin serving their second, consecutive, two-year terms on July 1, 2019.
 
Chief Judge Dietrich previously served as assistant chief judge of the Fifth District before her first term as chief judge and has served in the District since August 2008. Before her appointment to the bench, Chief Judge Dietrich served as Assistant Redwood County Attorney and later Redwood County Attorney. She served as a Ninth Judicial District law clerk in Bemidji and Clearwater after earning her juris doctorate degree from Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul. Chief Judge Dietrich’s chambers are located in the Lyon County Courthouse in Marshall.
 
“I am pleased to continue to serve as Chief Judge for two more years. It has been an honor and a pleasure to work with the staff and judges in the District,” said Chief Judge Dietrich. “I am grateful to my fellow judges for their continued faith in my leadership.”
 
The Honorable Gregory Anderson was reelected as assistant chief judge for the Fifth Judicial District. He was appointed to the bench in August 2008. Judge Anderson previously served as an assistant public defender in the Office of the Public Defender for the Fifth Judicial District and as an assistant city attorney for the City of Mankato. He served as a law clerk for the Fifth Judicial District and earned his juris doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He is chambered in the Blue Earth County Courthouse in Mankato.
 
Chief judges and assistant chief judges are elected by the judges within each district. Each serves a two-year term and may not serve more than two consecutive two-year terms. A chief judge of a judicial district exercises general administrative authority over the courts within the district, including assigning judges to serve in locations throughout the district, according to statute. The chief judge of each judicial district also serves as a member of the Minnesota Judicial Council, the administrative policy-making authority for the Minnesota Judicial Branch.