By: ND Monitor
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Thursday appointed a Minot attorney to a judgeship in the North Central Judicial District covering Burke, Mountrail and Ward counties.
The appointment of Steven Lautt is effective Aug. 4. The judgeship is chambered in Minot.
Lautt, a Minot native, has been with the Minot law firm of Pringle and Herigstad since 2012. He is the general counsel for several regional agriculture and telecommunications cooperatives and a statewide nonprofit organization, according to a news release from the governor’s office.
Lautt earned his bachelor’s degree from Tabor College in Kansas, and his law degree in 2012 from the Washburn University School of Law in Kansas. He is a former president of the Ward County Bar Association and current president of the North Dakota Association for Justice. Lautt serves on the board of directors of the Minot-based Northern Plains Children’s Advocacy Center.
The North Central Judicial District judgeship became vacant June 1 with the retirement of Judge Douglas Mattson, who was first elected as judge in 2002.
