FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 9, 2024
Claire Lancaster
claire.lancaster@state.mn.us
651-219-2975
Commission on Judicial Selection Recommends First Judicial District Candidates to Governor Walz
[ST. PAUL, MN] – The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending three candidates for consideration to fill a vacancy in Minnesota’s First Judicial District. The vacancy occurred upon the retirement of the Honorable Shawn M. Moynihan. This seat will be chambered in Hastings in Dakota County.
Christopher Bates:
Christopher Bates is an assistant county attorney in the Civil Division
of the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. He previously served as an
assistant city attorney for the City of Minneapolis, handling criminal
cases with a focus on domestic violence, and as an assistant county
attorney for the McLeod County Attorney’s Office. Bates’s community
involvement includes serving on the board of Mental Health Resources. He
also volunteers with the Boys and Girls Club of the Twin Cities and as a
mock trial judge with the Minnesota State Bar Association.
Luis Rangel Morales: Luis
Rangel Morales is a staff attorney and director of community engagement
for the Neighborhood Justice Center, where he represents low-income
community members facing criminal charges in Dakota, Ramsey, and
Washington counties. He has also served as defense counsel for the
Ramsey County Veterans Treatment Court and Ramsey County DUI Court.
Rangel Morales’s community involvement includes serving as chair of the
St. Paul Planning Commission and as vice-chair of St. Paul’s Board of
Zoning Appeals. He has also volunteered with organizations helping
at-risk youth.
Mary Russell: Mary
Russell is an assistant attorney general at the Office of the Minnesota
Attorney General, where she handles criminal prosecution and serves as a
member of multiple anti-human trafficking task forces. She previously
worked as an assistant county attorney at the Dakota County Attorney’s
Office and as an assistant county attorney at the Kanabec County
Attorney’s Office. Her community involvement includes serving as a
member of the Zero Abuse Project Advisory Board for Excellence in Child
Exploitation Investigations and as a mock trial judge. She has also
volunteered with organizations that assist victims of domestic and
sexual abuse.
For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.
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