Olson

finalist

for judge

By KURT NESBITT

Journal Staff Writer

ST.PAUL---The governor's Commission on Judicial Selection released the names of the six finalists contending for two bench vacancies in the Fifth Judicial District Thursday.

Brown County Attorney James Olson is a finalist for the seat of Judge George A. Marshall, who sits in Marshall, Lyon County.

The bench vacancies officially opened on Nov. 15, when Gov. Jesse Ventura accepted applications for retirement from Judges Terry M. Dempsey and Marshall. Dempsey leaves the bench in February. Marshall will follow in April.

Other finalists for the vacancies include attorneys in St. James, Madelia, Marshall and Tyler.

In the days since the first announcement, applications from about 22 attorneys have kept the 49-member commission busy. The commission chose the finalists after a series of interviews in Redwood Falls on Dec. 15. Interviews with Gov. Ventura, expected to take place in January, are the next step in the process, after which Ventura will announce the two appointments. The commission is also nominating candidates for other judicial districts in Minnesota.

Although there is no formal timeline for the governor's interviews yet, John Hultquist, appointments coordinator for the commission, said the selection process is "going smoothly." He said he expects to have the new judges in place by the time Dempsey and Marshall retire.

Olson received a phone call from Hultquist at his office at 4 p.m. Wednesday that confirmed his place as a finalist.

"I was pleased," Olson said. "But I had mixed emotions about it. I made the cut, but I have to go through all of it again."

Olson came to New Ulm in 1972 when he accepted a job with the firm of Berens, Rodenberg and O'Connor.

He became an assistant Brown County attorney the same year and replaced Bob Berens as county attorney in 1985. He came to New Ulm from the Harrington Law Firm in Chicago, where he tried family court cases from 1969 to 1972. Olson received his law degree from DePaul University Law School.

He applied for a bench vacancy in 1999 when Judge Terry Stoneburner was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals. Two of the three finalists for the seat were Olson and John R. Rodenberg, whom Ventura selected as Stoneburner's replacement.

Two other attorneys are also in the running for Marshall's spot. The committee will consider Leland Bush, a self-employed attorney from Russell, and Cecil Naatz, the managing attorney for the Fifth District's public defender's office.

Allison Krehbiel Baskfield, an assistant public defender from Madelia, Michael Kircher, an attorney and partner with Sunde, Olson, Kircher and Zender in St. James, and Bruce Young, Madelia City Attorney, are the candidates vying for Dempsey's seat.