Gov. Mark Dayton has appointed for Christa Daily to a new judge post in Mower County.

The Minnesota Supreme Court moved a vacant referee position in the Second Judicial District to the Third Judicial District and converted it into a district court judgeship. Daily is replacing Referee JoAnne Yanish, and Daily will be chambered at the Mower County Jail and Justice Center in Austin.

“I am pleased to appoint Christa M. Daily to serve as District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Third Judicial District,” Dayton said in a press release. “Throughout her career as a public defender, Assistant County Attorney, and in private practice, Ms. Daily has consistently demonstrated her commitment to justice and public service. She will be an excellent judge.”

Daily is an Assistant Third District Public Defender, where she primarily handles felonies and gross misdemeanors. Previously, she was an assistant Mower County attorney, an associate at Adams, Rizzi & Sween, P.A., and an Assistant Stearns County Attorney. Daily earned her B.A. from St. Olaf College and her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.

Daily volunteers at Mower County Seniors Inc., Mower County Habitat for Humanity and previously volunteered as a Minnesota State High School mock trial coach.

She is also the past president of the Mower County Law Library and a member of Women Attorneys of Rochester.

Minnesota’s Third Judicial District consists of Mower, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca and Winona counties.

More information on the Commission on Judicial Selection, as well as vacancies it is currently considering, can be found at http://mn.gov/governor/appointments/judicial-appointments/.

Mower’s judge need

Chief Third Judicial District Judge Jeffrey Thompson called it an unprecedented action to move the seat from the Second Judicial District to the Third Judicial District, but he said it will be great for a district that was once under-judged by two positions.

“This is a great event for the third district,” Thompson said earlier this year.

Since Mower County Judges Jeffrey Kritzer and Kevin Siefken took the bench in June 2014, the judge need hasn’t dropped below 2.7 for a quarter, and it’s often been as high as three judges.

Thompson attributed the need to things like a growing population, the local economy and high case loads, while adding the Destination Medical Center will drive the need throughout the Third Judicial District.

The change will make for 24 judges and a family court referee in the district, and this will nearly meet the district’s judge need.

With the recent high caseload in Mower, other district judges have traveled to Mower County a few days each week. Once Mower County is up to three judges, Thompson expects Mower judges to occasionally help out in Olmsted County.

Minnesota’s Third Judicial District consists of Mower, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca and Winona counties.

An announcement of Dayton’s appointment will be made following an interview process over the next few weeks.