ST. PAUL, MN - The Commission on Judicial Selection announced today that it is recommending three candidates for consideration to fill the vacancy in Minnesota’s Ninth Judicial District. The vacancy will occur upon the retirement of the Honorable Erik J. Askegaard.?This seat will be chambered in Aitkin in Aitkin County.

Daniel Hawley: Daniel Hawley is a partner at Gammello-Pearson PLLC, where he practices family law, criminal defense, civil litigation, real estate, corporate and business law, estate planning, and municipal law. In this role, he serves as defense counsel for the Crow Wing County DWI Court program. He was previously an associate at Gammello-Pearson PLLC and a law clerk for the Honorable David J. Ten Eyck in the Ninth Judicial District. Hawley’s community involvement includes serving as vice president of the Aitkin/Crow Wing Bar Association and the 15th Bar Association, president of the Crow Wing County Law Library Board of Trustees, and chair of the board of directors of Lakes Area Habitat for Humanity.

Cindi Hills: Cindi Hills is an assistant director of Labor Relations at the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system office. She previously worked as an assistant county attorney in Crow Wing County and an assistant public defender in the Ninth Judicial District in Aitkin County.?Hills judges moot court competitions, volunteers in local schools, and serves on the school board for Aitkin Public Schools.

Jordan Olsen: Jordan Olsen is a managing attorney in the Itasca County and Koochiching County public defender’s offices in the Ninth Judicial District. He was previously an assistant public defender in various counties across the Ninth Judicial District and a law clerk for the Honorable Anne M. Rasmusson in the Ninth Judicial District. Olsen is a member of the Public Defender DNA/Forensics team.

For more information about the judicial selection process, please visit the Governor’s Judicial Appointments webpage.