ST. PAUL, MN - The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending four candidates for consideration to fill the vacancies in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District. The vacancies will occur upon the retirement of the Honorable Robert D. Tiffany and the Honorable Korey Wahwassuck.?These seats will be chambered in Park Rapids in Hubbard County and Grand Rapids in Itasca County.

Heather Labat: Heather Labat is an assistant city attorney for the City of Bemidji, where she prosecutes misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases. She was previously a staff attorney with Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota and Anishinaabe Legal Services, an assistant county attorney in the Clearwater County Attorney’s Office, an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District Public Defender’s Office, and a law clerk for the Honorable Lyonel F. Norris in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. Labat’s community involvement includes serving as a member of the Beltrami County Drug Court and serving on the board of directors for BI-CAP, an organization that helps low-income people in Beltrami and Cass counties. Her community involvement has also included serving as a high school mock trial judge and mentor in the Students First program with the Beltrami Area Service Collaborative.

Kathryn Lorsbach:?Kathryn Lorsbach is the county attorney in the Clearwater County Attorney’s Office, where she handles a broad range of criminal and civil matters. She was previously an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District and a law clerk for the Honorable Jonathan N. Jasper in Minnesota’s Tenth Judicial District. Lorsbach’s community involvement includes serving as a member of the Clearwater County DUI Treatment Court, the Clearwater Juvenile Detention Alternative Initiative, and the Anishinaabe Sexual Assault Response Team.

Jordan Olsen: Jordan Olsen is a managing attorney in the Itasca County and Koochiching County public defender’s offices in the Ninth Judicial District. He was previously an assistant public defender in several counties across the Ninth Judicial District and a law clerk for the Honorable Anne M. Rasmusson in the Ninth Judicial District. Olsen is a member of the Public Defender DNA/Forensics team.

Kimberly Wimmer: Kimberly Wimmer is the executive vice president and general counsel of TruStar Federal Credit Union, where she assists with the overall leadership of the credit union and oversees all legal matters for its six branches in northern Minnesota. She previously worked as a solo practitioner at Wimmer Law Office, P.A., where she handled both civil and criminal matters and worked as an assistant public defender for the State of Minnesota. Wimmer's community involvement includes serving on the Borderland Treatment Court Team; acting as a board member, secretary, and treasurer for Friends Against Abuse; serving as a board member and treasurer of the Littlefork-Big Falls School Board; and volunteering with various academic and athletic programs in local schools.

For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.