Headed out and back

Mike Fetsch has left the building.

The Ramsey County district judge reached the mandatory retirement age of 70 a week ago, packed up his office on the 13th floor of the courthouse and spent his last day Friday handing down felony sentences to folks who ran afoul of the law.

The district judge of 13 years presided over myriad cases, from petty misdemeanors to serious felonies, and had a hand in two major decisions affecting the multibillion-dollar settlement between the state and Big Tobacco.

In 2002, he ruled that the Minnesota Partnership for Action Against Tobacco (MPAAT) was improperly focusing its antismoking efforts on community smoking bans. He ordered that it concentrate on helping smokers quit.

In December 2005, he ruled that the state's 75-cents-per-pack "health impact fee" on cigarettes was illegal and unconstitutional. That decision threatened to blow a $368 million hole in the state's 2006-2007 budget. Fetsch stayed his order pending its appeal. The state Supreme Court reversed his ruling in May 2006.

"I'm in mourning," District Judge Michael DeCourcy joked of his colleague and friend of almost 40 years. "Fetsch is the standard against which all other judges are measured, and we all fall woefully short. He is recognized as the finest judge in the state of Minnesota by all of us."

Never fear, Fetsch will be back in January as a senior judge. He loves his work too much to completely call it quits. "I want to try some cases," he said. "I don't want to do arraignments. I like to try cases."

Worked as public defender

As a young lawyer, Fetsch went to work for Legal Assistance of Ramsey County in 1968. He was chief attorney for misdemeanors in the city of St. Paul.

"In those days, there were six city prosecutors," DeCourcy said. "And one, one public defender on misdemeanors and that was Fetsch. There were six of us and one of him and it wasn't a fair fight. We could have used a couple more on our team."

In 1975, Fetsch entered private practice -- while still doing part-time public defender work in state and federal court -- at the Minnesota Building. He remembers those days fondly.

"We called ourselves bucket-shop operators because we did a little bit of everything," Fetsch said.

In 1994, he was appointed a court referee. Two years later, he became the county's first referee to make the leap when Gov. Arne Carlson appointed him a district judge.

"This is a piece of cake compared to private practice," Fetsch said last week. "They [the lawyers] have to do all the work. All we [the judges] have to do is call the balls and strikes."

With his background as a public defender, Fetsch said he probably has been more nuanced on constitutional issues than some of his colleagues who were prosecutors.

"That's what we always thought our job was as public defenders, to ensure that everybody got the minimum that the Constitution guaranteed," he said. "Because by protecting the worst of us, we protect all of us."

Fetsch has a heap of praise for his colleagues. "The people I work with are most enjoyable and can see the humor in what we do, and the pathos in what we do. And every once in while the good that we accomplish."

A passion for sports

Fetsch is a lifelong St. Paulite. As a kid -- the oldest of seven -- he was a St. Luker. He attended the old Nazareth Hall and the St. Paul Seminary. He considered studying for the priesthood but decided that wasn't for him.

"I had a major in philosophy, a minor in Latin and a minor in French and, boy, they were just beating down my door to hire me," he recalled. "I decided I'd better do something that would actually get me employed."

In 1966, he graduated from William Mitchell Law School.

He played baseball and basketball in high school and college. But it was hockey that was -- and is -- his passion. He is full of stories of the injuries he has suffered, not so much so about the ones he inflicted.

He played for the Ramsey County Bar Association team until four years ago when a back injury forced him to hang up his skates. But he still coaches and travels on the Barrister's Cup tournament circuit.

Besides his return to the bench, Fetsch hopes his future holds time to learn to speak French and Spanish. He and his wife, Marilyn, have three grown children and four grandchildren. They love to travel and keep a packed bag in their sport-utility vehicle so they are ready for road trips on short notice.

Fetsch's spot on the district court bench is likely to remain open for several months as a cost-saving measure. It's unlikely anyone could replace him, his colleagues said.

"The citizens are going to miss him," DeCourcy said. "I'm going to miss him. But he'll be back."

Pat Pheifer • 612-741-4992