A newly elected state representative is announcing vindication — not regarding the election, but a recent judicial board ruling against a judge who admonished him in his previous role as a sheriff’s deputy.
Bidal Duran won a tight race for the House 2A seat in northern Minnesota. While campaigning, Duran was terminated from the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office when he ran out of medical leave. The termination followed a series of reprimands in his three years with the department, including being admonished by Ninth District Judge Eric Schieferdecker.
The judge accused Duran of lying about the existence of a confidential informant on a search warrant last year. He questioned Duran’s credibility because information on the confidential informant wasn’t revealed until months later in a second search warrant request from Duran that was denied.
Schieferdecker ruled that Duran’s conduct “could be insidious” and said it’s “inexcusable to answer dishonestly.” Prosecutors ultimately dropped charges against two suspected meth traffickers.
As a result, Duran was investigated but it was determined that he didn’t violate department policy. Duran in return filed a complaint against Schieferdecker with the Board on Judicial Standards, an independent state agency that responds to complaints about district judges.
Duran shared a Nov. 15 letter from the board with media this week. The letter informed Duran that the board had considered his complaint against Schieferdecker accusing him of “intimidating demeanor, partiality, lack of fairness, and bias and prejudice against you and law enforcement officers.”
The board said it had entered into a legal agreement with Schieferdecker called a deferred disposition agreement, essentially a form of probation. Schieferdecker must comply with confidential terms laid out by the board. If the judge takes corrective action, a nondisciplinary “letter of caution” will be issued in two years advising Schieferdecker of future conduct. Noncompliance could result in a private warning or public reprimand.
But it’s unclear whether any of the allegations against Schieferdecker were substantiated. The board declined to comment.