Public Notice Detail
Minnesota District Judges Honor Stafsholt and Stoneburner
Posted: Wednesday, September 29, 1999
Stafsholt received the Outstanding Service to the Community award for his contributions outside of the courtroom and his ability to encourage the involvement of others. He started the Strive program, in which high school seniors are encouraged to improve their grade point averages and consider the possibility of continuing their education beyond high school. The program pairs students with Glenwood Rotary Club members and offers the students the opportunity to compete for Rotary scholarships.
Stafsholt is an active participant at local bar association meetings, providing leadership and encouraging lawyers to participate on committees. He was also the church president at Glenwood Lutheran Church from 1997 - 1999. A veteran, Stafsholt regularly gives Memorial Day speeches and talks to local youth about the history and sacrifices of war.
Stoneburner received the Outstanding Service to the Judicial System award because of her dedication to improving the efficiency of the judicial system. She continually searches for ways to improve service to the public, including: more efficient ways to schedule cases: actively utilizing the alternative dispute resolution process: and streamlining the processing of cases where possible. As permitted by the court calendar, she makes herself available to hear cases in other counties. In This past summer, Stoneburner assisted Koochiching County for two days while on vacation in northern Minnesota.
For the past four years, Stoneburner has written a summary of all Minnesota Court of Appeals and Supreme Court civil decisions, which is distributed to all judges at the MDJA annual conference.
This is the third year the MDJA has honored judges with the annual awards for distinguished service. A committee of retired district court judges selected the winners.