Minnesota Court of Appeals gets new chief judge

The Minnesota Court of Appeals is getting a new chief judge.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Thursday promoted Appeals Judge Matthew E. Johnson, appointing him to a three-year term as chief judge that begins Nov. 1 and expires Oct. 31, 2013.

Johnson succeeds current Chief Judge Edward Toussaint Jr., who has held the job since 1995. Toussaint's three-year term expires at the end of the month. He plans to remain on the court until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 next October.

Pawlenty first named Johnson to the Appeals Court effective January of 2008. Previously he was an attorney in private practice. The 47-year-old Johnson was born in Sioux Falls, S.D., and lives in St. Paul.

Pawlenty's office says he has made 126 judicial appointments, including nine judges to the Court of Appeals, four associate Supreme Court justices and three chief justices.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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