Associate Justice Helen Meyer announced on Thursday that she will resign from the Minnesota Supreme Court on Aug. 10, completing a full decade on the state's highest court.
In a letter to Gov. Mark Dayton, Meyer wrote that she looked forward to returning to private life: "Over my 10 years as a member of the Supreme Court and 20 years as a trial lawyer, I have developed a great respect for the people who work in the judicial branch. ... I will miss my colleagues and the challenging work of the court."
Meyer's departure gives Dayton his first chance to appoint a Supreme Court justice since becoming governor last year. He will ask the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection to help solicit candidates and evaluate applicants.
Meyer, 58, of Edina, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2002 by Gov. Jesse Ventura and was elected to six-year terms in 2004 and 2010.
Before joining the court, Meyer was the owner of Meyer and Associates in St. Louis Park, starting in 1996.
She was a founding partner in 1987 of the Pritzker and Meyer law firm in Minneapolis, where she practiced until 1996. She was an associate attorney with the law firm of Schwebel, Goetz, Sieben and Hanson in Minneapolis from 1982 to 1987.
In addition to her regular court duties, Meyer served as chair of the Supreme Court's Chemical Dependency Task Force and the Minnesota Judicial Council's Workgroup on Legal Representation of Parents in Child Protection Cases.
Meyer was born and raised on a Stearns County dairy farm. She graduated from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor's degree in social work and received her law degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
Meyer "made a significant and lasting contribution to the administration of justice in Minnesota through her 10 years of dedicated service on the Supreme Court," Chief Justice Lorie Gildea said in a statement. "We will miss her, and we are grateful for the opportunity we had to serve with such an outstanding jurist and a good and kind person."
Dayton also released a statement: "Associate Justice Meyer has provided outstanding service to the people of Minnesota over the last decade. I thank her for her service, and wish her the very best in her future endeavors."
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482