ST. PAUL — The Commission on Judicial Selection announced Thursday that it is recommending three candidates to fill a vacancy in Minnesota's Eighth Judicial District , according to a news release from the office of Gov. Tim Walz and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
The vacancy will occur once Judge Dwayne N. Knutsen retires, and the seat will be chambered in Granite Falls .
The commission recommended the following people for consideration:
Keith Helgeson is currently the Yellow Medicine County attorney and previously served as an assistant Yellow Medicine County attorney, a law clerk for Judge Bruce Christopherson and as an adjunct professor at Southwest Minnesota State University.
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As county attorney, Helgeson represents Yellow Medicine County in criminal, juvenile, child protection and civil court matters. He also advises the County Board and various county departments.
Helgeson is a member of the Yellow Medicine County Restorative Justice Advisory Council, Chemical Health Coalition, Prairie Lakes Advisory Board and President of the Tri-County Law Library Board.
His community involvement includes being a Kiwanis member, previous member of the Granite Falls City Council and Granite Falls Hospital Board, a youth basketball and soccer coach and a mock trial coach.
Aaron Jordan is currently the Stevens County attorney and the city attorney for Alberta, Chokio, Donnelly, Hancock and Morris. He was previously an assistant Cass County attorney, an Eighth Judicial District public defender, and has also spent time working in private practice.
Jordan’s experience includes prosecuting all levels of criminal offenses and juvenile delinquencies, as well as child protection, appellate practice, civil work and advisory work.
A veteran of the United States Air Force, Jordan has served in several different volunteer capacities focused on criminal law and ethics. His involvement includes serving as a member of the board of directors for the Minnesota County Attorney’s Association and its Criminal Law and Ethics committees. Jordan also served as the chair of the 16th District Ethics Committee. He was a member of the Cass County DWI Court and is a founding member of the Eighth Judicial District Treatment Court.
Benjamin Wilcox is a partner at Wilcox Law Office, P.A. He also serves as the city attorney for Benson and Kerkhoven, as well as an assistant city attorney for Murdock, Clontarf, Danvers, DeGraff and Holloway.
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Previously, Wilcox was a mortgage processor for General Mills Federal Credit Union. He represents clients in a wide variety of civil matters, including real estate, estate planning, probate, civil litigation, small business organization and landlord-tenant
matters.
He currently serves as a board member for the Robert Sonsteng Foundation, a local charitable organization that provides grants each year to the Benson area, particularly supporting the school district, hospital, daycare providers and other local nonprofits. Wilcox is also a board member of the Southwest Initiative Foundation, a community foundation which serves 18 counties in southwest Minnesota.
