Bradford Delapena to be new chief of tax court

Dec 20th, 2012 by Patrick Thornton

Bradford Delapena

Bradford Delapena will become the new chief judge of the Minnesota Tax Court effective Jan. 7. He was appointed to the court in November and his first day at work was yesterday.

Prior to joining the court, he was a solo practitioner specializing in appellate law and tax.Joanne Turner was appointed the same day as Delapena and started work last week.

The current chief judge George Perez’s future remains uncertain. He was re-appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton in June 2011, but the appointment has yet to be confirmed by the Minnesota Senate. In early November, the Board on Judicial Standards issued a formal complaint against Perez for failing to decide cases in a timely manner and for falsely certifying that he was in compliance with statutory time limits.

He disputes the charges. The judicial board will try the case in front of a three member panel. That panel will recommend findings to the Minnesota Supreme Court for a final decision.