Appointed/Elected:

Elected in 2012. Current term expires in January 2019.

Judicial Service:

Judge Lois Conroy joined the Fourth Judicial District on January 7, 2013, after winning a county-wide election in November 2012.  During her tenure, she has presided over more than 50 trials and authored more than a 1,000 orders. She has served as a judicial officer in Hennepin County:

• Drug and Property Court (felony drug, property, and white-collar crimes) 2014-15 & 2018-present;
• Juvenile Court (child protection and delinquency) 2015-18; and,
• Downtown Criminal Court (misdemeanors) 2013-14.

Judge Conroy has lead the work of Hennepin County’s Juvenile Court Complex Case Committees 2017-18, co-chaired the Hennepin County Girl’s Continuum of Care Committee 2016-17 and participated in the Hennepin County Domestic Violence Coordinating Committee 2017-18.   She chairs the Minnesota District Judges Association (MDJA) Election Committee and serves on the MDJA Board of Directors.

Prior Professional Experience:

Judge Conroy has been interpreting, applying, practicing, or enforcing the law for the last 20 years. Her election to the bench ended her public service as a prosecutor of chronic-offender crime with the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office, where she led a holistic crime-fighting program, the Downtown 100. The Downtown 100 focused on bringing together law enforcement and social services providers to address the causes of criminal behavior. This work lead to a 72% reduction in chronic offender crime in a single year. Under her leadership, the Downtown 100 received both national and international recognition from the American Prosecutor’s Association and the International Chiefs’ of Police. 
 
While serving as a prosecutor, Judge Conroy was deputized by County Attorneys Amy Klobuchar and Mike Freeman to prosecute felony crimes on behalf of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office including serve on the Hennepin County Drug Prosecution Team. Judge Conroy also taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.
 
Before joining the Minneapolis City Attorney’s Office, Judge Conroy externed in United State District Court for the Honorable James Rosenbaum and worked as an associate general counsel for a private Minnesota corporation in 1997-98. 

Education:

Judge Conroy received a J.D. with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1997 and a B.A. with honors and distinction from the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM) in 1994.  While at UMM, Conroy was elected Student Body President and awarded the Alan W. Edson award, which is presented annually to recognize outstanding achievement, scholarship, leadership, and character.
 
Judge Conroy also attended the Engalitcheff Institute on Comparative Political and Economic System at Georgetown University, Washington D.C. in 1993.

Personal:

Judge Conroy grew up on a farm in greater Minnesota and moved to the Twin Cities to attend law school. She tied the knot with college classmate Martin Conroy in 1995 and gave birth in 2005 to their twin boys, Patrick and James. They reside in south Minneapolis.
 
Judge Conroy enjoys cheering on the Minneapolis Thunder Soccer players and can be seen periodically sailing on a Minneapolis lake or cycling on a Minnesota trail.