Blackwelder appointed as Fifth District judge
Filling judicial vacancy in Lyon, Lincoln counties
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MARSHALL -- An assistant public defender from southwest Minnesota has been appointed to fill a judicial vacancy in Lincoln and Lyon counties.
This week, Gov. Tim Walz announced that Jeremy Blackwelder will fill the vacancy left after the death of Judge Tricia Zimmer this summer.
Blackwelder will be chambered in Ivanhoe in Lincoln County and Marshall in Lyon County, the Governor's Office said.
"Jeremy Blackwelder will bring a unique perspective to the bench," Walz said in the announcement. "His experience as both a public defender and police officer gives him a deep appreciation for protecting individual rights while understanding the responsibilities of law enforcement. That experience and credibility will show up in how he serves."
Blackwelder is currently an assistant public defender in the Fifth Judicial District Public Defender's Office, which serves an area of 15 counties in southwestern and southern Minnesota. He has a background as an attorney and as a law enforcement officer, according to the announcement. He was previously an attorney at Holmstrom, Kvam, & Blackwelder, PLLP, handling criminal, family, civil, estate planning, real estate, and municipal matters.
Blackwelder also served as city attorney for the cities of Granite Falls and Maynard and as a police officer with the Upper Sioux Community.
The announcement said Blackwelder is also involved with his community through coaching youth football and baseball.
Blackwelder was one of two judge appointments announced this week. Walz said Aaron Zurek, the chief public defender of Minnesota's Fifth Judicial District, will replace Judge Gregory J. Anderson, who is retiring. Zurek will be chambered in Mankato.
The announcement said Zurek previously served as managing attorney and assistant public defender in the district's Mankato office, as a staff attorney in the State Court Administrator's Office, and as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Krista J. Jass and Bruce F. Gross in Minnesota's Fifth Judicial District. Zurek serves on the Minnesota Department of Public Safety Task Force on Improving Responses to Domestic Violence Crimes and the Minnesota Judicial Branch's Safe & Secure Courthouse Grant Advisory Panel. His community involvement includes serving on the Blue Earth and Nicollet County Community Corrections Advisory Boards, Blue Earth County Adult Treatment Court, Fifth Judicial District Equal Justice Committee, and the City of Mankato Public Safety Advisory Committee.