FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 8, 2024
Claire Lancaster
claire.lancaster@state.mn.us
651-219-2975
Commission on Judicial Selection Recommends Seventh 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 Seventh Judicial
District. The vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the Honorable
Michael S. Jesse. The seat will be chambered in Foley in Benton County.
Amy Chantry: Amy Chantry serves as a judicial referee in the Tenth Judicial
District, where she presides over housing, harassment, domestic
violence, minor criminal, and minor civil matters. She previously served
as a legal and policy advisor at the Minnesota Department of Health.
Chantry’s community involvement includes volunteering as a high school
mock trial judge and for various student activities at the Sauk
Rapids-Rice High School.
Karl Schmidt:
Karl Schmidt is the county attorney in the Benton County Attorney’s
Office. He previously served as a senior assistant county attorney in
that office, where he primarily handled felony prosecutions, as well as
fugitive and extradition cases. He previously was an assistant public
defender in the Seventh Judicial District and a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Bruce W. Christopherson in Minnesota’s Eighth Judicial
District. Schmidt’s community involvement includes volunteering with
Habitat for Humanity, and he is a member of the Minnesota County
Attorneys Association.
Victoria Willis-Gutnik:
Victoria Willis-Gutnik is an assistant county attorney in the Stearns
County Attorney’s Office in the Domestic Violence Unit, where she
handles intimate partner violence and human trafficking related crimes.
She previously was a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Sarah E. Hennesy in Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial
District. Willis-Gutnik is a member of the Stearns Benton Bar
Association, the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, and the
Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers.
For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.
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