Shuffle in Hennepin County bench follows Barnette's departure for commissioner role

Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette was confirmed Thursday by the Minneapolis City Council as the city's next public safety commissioner. His departure from the courts creates a domino-effect of vacancies in court judicial leadership.

Here's what you need to know as Barnette leaves his chief post.

What happens next?

Assistant Chief Judge Kerry Meyer automatically becomes chief judge once Barnette leaves, and she will finish out the remainder of his term until a spring election. Barnette, a judge in Hennepin County since 2006, sent his resignation letter Thursday to Gov. Tim Walz.

"It has been an awesome journey!" Barnette wrote in his resignation, effective at the end of Friday.

That marks a 30-day deadline to hold a special election for assistant chief, as outlined by state statute. The statute requires a two-week period for judges to nominate colleagues for the post, followed by a vote at their Nov. 13 meeting.

They will vote again in the spring for chief judge and assistant to serve a full two-year term. No judge may serve as chief or assistant chief for more than two consecutive terms.

Who is Kerry Meyer?

Meyer was appointed judge in 2006, elected in 2008 and re-elected in 2014 and 2020. She served as the presiding judge of the criminal courts from 2017 to 2020, when she was elected assistant chief.

As a former assistant Hennepin County attorney for 14 years, she prosecuted cases ranging from violent crime and gangs to juvenile and property crime before joining the bench.

Meyer, 57, formerly presided over the district's Veterans Court, the first in Minnesota, and the Mental Health Court, which became a model across the state focused on connecting defendants with housing, employment and therapy.

"I am deeply honored to step into this leadership role on Minnesota's largest district court," Meyer said in a statement. "It goes without saying that Judge Barnette will be greatly missed. I intend to continue the great work we have been doing in Hennepin County."

Any assistant chief prospects?

It appears District Judge Mark Kappelhoff is the favored candidate for assistant chief judge. Kappelhoff is the presiding judge of the district's Juvenile Court. He was appointed to the bench in 2016, and his current term ends in 2025.

Kappelhoff, 62, a former federal prosecutor, received the highest award from the U.S. Justice Department in 2015 for leading two federal investigations of the Ferguson, Mo., Police Department following the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Before his bench appointment, he was an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Law School.

Why does this matter?

Hennepin Country District Court, known as the Fourth Judicial District, is the largest and busiest of Minnesota's 10 judicial districts.

The chief judge oversees more than 60 judges and assigns their cases. There were nearly 320,000 cases filed in the district last year.

Barnette, who was elected chief judge in 2020 amid the COVID-19 outbreak and the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, coordinated the trial of ex-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

Along with overseeing administrative functions, the chief also serves on the Minnesota Judicial Council, which determines policies for the Minnesota judicial branch.

Under Barnette, the district began a pilot program in 2022 to collect new race data in eviction, guardianship, civil commitment and family cases to help identify any disparities.