Washington County assistant attorney appointed judge in Anoka County

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Assistant Washington County Attorney Kevin Mueller has been appointed District Court judge in Minnesota’s 10th Judicial District.

Mueller, who will be chambered in Anoka County, is replacing the Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick. The district encompasses Anoka, Chisago, Isanti, Kanabec, Pine, Sherburne, Washington and Wright counties.

Gov. Tim Walz, who made the appointment, called Mueller an “exceptional attorney with a wealth of civil and criminal law experience that will serve him well on the Anoka County bench. I am confident that he will be a leader in the courtroom and community for years to come.”

Mueller joined the Washington County Attorney’s Office in 2013. He was an assistant Washington County Attorney in the juvenile and criminal divisions and assistant Criminal Division chief before becoming chief of the Criminal Division.

“I am honored and grateful for the trust that Gov. Walz has placed in me,” Mueller said in a statement. “The heavy responsibility afforded by this new position is something that I do not take lightly.”

Mueller earned his bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Ohio and received his Juris Doctor from Northwestern University School of Law.

He served as a law clerk for Alaska Superior Court Judge Mark Rindner before practicing commercial litigation at a private law firm in Chicago. Prior to joining the Washington County Attorney’s Office, Mueller worked as an assistant state’s attorney in Chicago at the office of the Cook County State’s Attorney.

Mueller comes from a family of law enforcement officers. His oldest brother, Brain Mueller, is chief of police in Stillwater and former chief deputy of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office; his other brother, Scott Mueller, is deputy superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Mueller is the third prosecutor from the Washington County Attorney’s office recently appointed to the bench in the 10th Judicial District.

Judge Siv Mjanger, former Criminal Division chief at the Washington County Attorney’s Office, was appointed by Walz in October; Judge Jesse Seabrooks II was appointed in June.

“Like the ones before him, Kevin is a leader and person of noble integrity – another great example of the legacy of leadership by Washington County Attorney Pete Orput,” First Assistant Washington County Attorney Brent Wartner said in a statement.

Orput died April 3 at his house in Stillwater, less than two weeks after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.

Related Articles