Judge Christa Daily took the bench for the first time in the Mower County Jail and Justice Center Friday.

Shortly after being sworn in, she looked over the courtroom and noted it was probably the friendliest court room she’ll ever see, as it was packed with friends, family and community members, many of them standing along the sides and out the doors.

As Daily looked ahead to her new role as a judge, she thanked everyone who helped her get to this point.

“I don’t have the appropriate words to thank all of you for what you’ve given me, because my sitting in this chair isn’t me, it’s you,” she said. “And so I thank you for everything.”

“I thank you for all you have given me, and I hope to do you justice,” she added.

Daily became Mower County’s third chambered judge, joining Judges Jeffrey Kritzer and Kevin Siefken. She is the 24th judge in the Third Judicial District.

 ‘A living and breathing human’

Daily, who was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton this spring, said it was good to be finally sworn in, but she admitted it felt a bit overwhelming too. But she says she aims to be the same person on the bench as she is outside the courtroom.

Daily spoke during Friday’s ceremony about a colleague once giving her a copy of “In Search of Atticus Finch,” a book about lawyers which takes its name from the “To Kill a Mockingbird” character. In Harper Lee’s book, Atticus defends a man the entire community thinks is guilty. Atticus is a beloved character, a man of strong conviction who is the same out of the courtroom as he is outside it.

But in Lee’s 2015 followup novel, “Go Set a Watchman,” he is shown to be a living and breathing human with many faults that go against the mythical figure he became after “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Daily admitted she questioned if Atticus was the right person to talk about at her ceremony, but then she realized his shortcomings in “Go Set a Watchman” make for a more real, human character.

“He knew he had shortcomings, he had moral failures, but he struggled,” Daily said. “And that made Atticus more real to me, someone that I could, in fact, model myself after, because he’s no longer this hero or this mythic, fictional character. He becomes a living and breathing human being for all of us.”

Daily said that as Atticus learns and does better, his community follows suit.

‘Like coming home’

Daily saw many familiar faces in the crowd at her investiture Friday.

Daily is no stranger to Mower County, where she worked for about five years as an assistant county attorney.

“It feels like coming home,” Daily said. “It was nice to look out on all the people that were here and see a lot of friends and family, a lot of familiar faces.”

Daily most recently served as an assistant Third District public defender, where she primarily handled felonies and gross misdemeanors. Previously, she worked as 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.

She will begin work as a judge on Monday, starting with a two-week observation period before she starts hearing cases.