St. Paul, Minnesota – State Representative John Ward (DFL – Baxter) congratulated Jana Austad on her appointment by Governor Dayton as a District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District.
“Jana Austad does fantastic work and has been an excellent Public Defender in our area,” said Rep. Ward. “She will be a great judge and I congratulate her on her appointment.”
Ms. Austad is the managing attorney in the Brainerd Regional Office of the Minnesota Public Defender, where, in addition to her caseload, she manages the assistant public defenders in Aitkin, Cass, and Crow Wing Counties. Previously, she was an attorney at Kief, Fuller, Baer and Wallner, Ltd., practicing general litigation with a concentration in workers’ compensation, township law, and family law. Ms. Austad received her B.A. from Augsburg College and her J.D. from the William Mitchell College of Law.
Additionally, Ms. Austad is an active volunteer with the Sharing Bread Soup Kitchen and has worked with the League of Women Voters on issues concerning the judiciary. She is also a former board member for the Perry Creek Preschool.
Ms. Austad resides in Baxter with her family.
Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District consists of Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau.
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/.