Walz appoints Kelly Staples to 1st District bench

Gov. Tim Walz has announced the appointment of Kelly Staples as district court judge in Minnesota’s 1st Judicial District. Staples will replace Judge David L. Knutson and will be chambered in Hastings in Dakota County.

“It is my privilege to appoint Kelly Staples to the Dakota County bench,” Walz said in a news release from his office. “Her wealth of family law experience, coupled with her ability to help clients navigate their most challenging moments, gives me the confidence that she will be a great judge.”

Minnesota’s 1st Judicial District consists of Carver, Dakota, Goodhue, Le Sueur, McLeod, Scott, and Sibley counties.

Staples has been a court-appointed counsel in paternity, child support, and civil commitment matters and a volunteer conciliation court referee in Dakota County. She also has maintained a private family law practice focusing on child custody and domestic abuse cases. Staples’s community involvement includes serving on the board of directors for Legal Assistance of Dakota County, judging high school mock trial, volunteering at legal self-help clinics through 360 Communities, and supporting her children’s many activities. She earned her B.A. from the University of Minnesota and her J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.