LeDuc appointed Koochiching judge

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

July 13, 1999

By Devlyn Brooks

Gov. Jess Ventura appointed Charles LeDuc of International Falls to a Ninth Judicial District judge vacancy in Koochiching County Monday -- a position for which Bemidji's Douglas Johnson had been named a finalist.

Johnson, the supervising attorney for Legal Services of Northwest Minnesota that is headquartered in Bemidji, was named in late June as one of three finalists for a position vacated by the retired Judge Peter Hemstad. The third was Brian Hardwick of Warroad.

LeDuc is an attorney and partner in the International Falls law firm of Shermoen, LeDuc and Jaska. He has also been an assistant Ninth District public defender.

He earned both his law degree in 1979, and his bachelor's in 1975, from the University of North Dakota.

"LeDuc is a very worthy candidate," Johnson said Monday. "I'm not surprised they would want someone from International Falls ... that knows the local scene. It's hardly a shock."

Johnson, who has been the supervising attorney for Legal Services for 10 years, said that as a finalist he was treated to an almost one-on-one interview with the governor.

He said he thought Ventura was really involved in the appointment process, comparing it to what he knows from experiences had by other attorneys interviewing for appointments with former Gov. Arne Carlson.

"It was a treat -- a fun interview. Jesse took charge and asked a lot of questions," Johnson said. "I thought he took it very seriously. This really revealed to me that there is an openness about this process."

Prior to his Legal Services job here, Johnson sandwiched time with Legal Services of Northeast Minnesota, the Central Minnesota Legal Services Disability Project and Indian Legal Assistance, all of Duluth, around a stint as attorney and partner in the law firm of Ginsburg and Johnson in Duluth.

He resides in Bemidji with his wife and daughter.