Pawlenty names 4 new Hennepin County judges

Three women and a man were appointed Hennepin County District Court judges Wednesday.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who announced the new judges, has now named 16 of the 62 jurists serving on the Hennepin bench, including, he quipped, "a few good ones."

In remarks at the announcement ceremony, Pawlenty told the children of Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Fred Kasarov that, with Dad serving on the bench, any wrongdoing on their part could end up on the front page of the newspaper.

"Keep it on the road," the governor warned.

Some 60 lawyers applied for four vacancies created by the retirements of Judges Harry Crump and Allen Oleisky and the elevation to the state Court of Appeals of Judges Francis Connolly and Heidi Schellhas.

The applicants went through a screening and interview process; Pawlenty also said he sought to name judges of diverse backgrounds.

The new judges:

Tamara Garcia, 46, a self-employed lawyer and law school classmate of Pawlenty, is Hispanic and a member of the Minnesota Gambling Control Board. She has been in private practice since 2000 and a judicial hearing examiner with the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux since 1995. She lives in Eden Prairie with her husband, Steven.

Fred Karasov, 54, an assistant Hennepin County attorney, has been in the county attorney's office since 1983. He is the senior attorney in the violent crimes division. He also is a military judge with the Minnesota Army National Guard. He lives in Minneapolis with his wife, Cathy, a daughter and four stepchildren.

Laurie Miller, 50, is an attorney and shareholder in the litigation department of the Fredrikson & Byron firm in Minneapolis. She lives in Edina with her husband, Scott Sakaguchi, and their three children.