Five candidates have been recommended for consideration to fill two vacancies in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District.
One of the vacancies occurred upon the retirement of the Judge Shari R. Schluchter, and the other vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the Judge Darlene Rivera Spalla. These seats will be chambered in Bemidji in Beltrami County and Mahnomen in Mahnomen County.
Candidates are Itasca County Attorney Matti Adam, Pennington County Attorney Seamus Duffy, solo practitioner Tom Kuesel, Clearwater County Attorney Kathryn Lorsbach, and Symon Schindler-Syme, assistant county attorney in Beltrami County. The Commission on Judicial Selection recommends candidates to Gov. Tim Walz, who makes the final appointments.
Matti Adam
Adam is the county attorney in the Itasca County Attorney’s Office, where she is the county’s chief prosecutor and legal adviser. She was previously an assistant county attorney in the Itasca County Attorney’s Office and a law clerk for Judge Fred Karasov and Judge Peter Cahill in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District.
Adam’s community involvement includes serving as the co-chair of the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association Indian Law Committee and as a board member of the Grand Rapids Area Library Foundation.
Seamus Duffy
Duffy is the county attorney in the Pennington County Attorney’s Office. He was previously an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District and an attorney at Duffy Law Office.
Duffy’s community involvement includes serving as a member of the Pennington County DWI Court and a lecturer at Northland Community and Technical College. His community involvement also includes volunteering with the Thief River Falls Amateur Hockey Association and the Thief River Falls Archery Club.
Tom Kuesel
Kuesel is a solo practitioner at Tom Kuesel P.A., where his practice focuses on criminal defense and personal injury matters. He was previously an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District and a law clerk for several judges in the Eighth Judicial District in Willmar.
Kuesel’s community involvement includes serving on the board of the Northwest Indian Community Development Center and volunteering as an assistant coach with the Bemidji High School Mock Trial Team. His community involvement has also included serving as chair of Bemidji’s Hockey Day Minnesota 2019 Local Organizing Committee.
Kathryn Lorsbach
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 Judge Jonathan Jasper in Minnesota’s 10th 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.
Symon Schindler-Syme
Schindler-Syme is an assistant county attorney in the Beltrami County Attorney’s Office, where he handles criminal and appellate cases. He was previously an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District.
Schindler-Syme’s community involvement includes serving as a member of the Mississippi Headwaters Audubon Society and the Great River Animal Rescue Shelter.
For more information about the judicial selection process, visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.