Walz appoints Heidi Hovis to 7th District bench

Gov. Tim Walz has announced the appointment of Heidi Hovis as a District Court Judge in Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District. Hovis will replace Judge Daniel A. Benson and will be chambered in Long Prairie in Todd County.

“Heidi Hovis’ experience as a public defender, legal aid attorney, judicial officer, tribal attorney, and senior general counsel has given her the skills and insight Todd County deserves,”  Walz said in a news release. “I have full confidence that she will be an excellent judge.”

Minnesota’s 7th Judicial District encompasses Becker County, Benton County, Clay County, Douglas County, Mille Lacs County, Morrison County, Otter Tail County, Stearns County, Todd County, and Wadena County.

Heidi Hovis is an assistant public defender in the 7th Judicial District Public Defender’s Office and an adjunct professor in the paralegal program at North Hennepin Community College. She is a member of Stearns County Treatment Court and also serves as a volunteer conciliation court referee in Wright County.

Hovis previously worked as a staff attorney with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid and as senior associate general counsel at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency. Her community involvement includes serving on the board of Central Minnesota Habitat for Humanity and the Minnesota Women Lawyers Central Chapter, as well as serving on the advisory board of the Wirth Center for the Performing Arts.

She received her B.A. from Winona State University and her J.D. from the University of St. Thomas School of Law.