In January 2004, South Central District Judge Benny Graff retired after exactly 30 years on the district court bench. At the time of his retirement, Graff was the longest serving district judge in North Dakota. Indeed, no North Dakota district judge had put in more time on the bench since Sixth Judicial District Judge Harvey Miller retired in 1969 after 34 years of service.
Graff, however, would have needed to serve until 2016 to surpass the longevity record of Judge William Kneeshaw, who served in the Seventh Judicial District and the Second Judicial District from 1901-1943. A pioneer resident of Pembina, Kneeshaw was 46 when he went on the bench in 1900 and his judicial service continued until he died 42 years later at the age of 89.
Kneeshaw's 42 years on the bench is by far the longest continuous term of service by a district judge in North Dakota. A district judge who became a Supreme Court justice, however, approached Kneeshaw's length of judicial service: Justice Alexander Burr recorded 40 years of combined service.
Judge Charles Buttz, with 38 years of district court service, ranks second to Kneeshaw in district court longevity, and Graff's 30 years of service make him North Dakota's fifth longest serving district judge.
Effective January 1, 2006, the longest serving active district court judge will be Northeast Central District Judge Joel Medd, who has served since 1979. Medd was was appointed district judge by Gov. Art Link at the same time as East Central District Judges Lawrence Leclerc and Michael McGuire, who both retired at the end of 2004, and former Northeast District Judge William Neumann, who served on the Supreme Court and retired in 2005.
The chart below lists current and former district court judges who have accumulated at least 20 years of judicial service. For current judges, the years of service are calculated effective Dec. 31, 2005.
| William J. Kneeshaw (1854-1943) |
43 | 1901-1943 | ||||
| Alexander J. Burr (1871-1951) |
40 | 1908-1926 S.Ct. 1926-1937 | ||||
| Charles W. Buttz (1875-1948) |
38 | 1910-1948 | ||||
| William L. Nuessle (1878-1959) |
37 | 1913-1922 S.Ct. 1923-1950 | ||||
| Harvey J. Miller (1887-1979) |
34 | 1935-1969 | ||||
| M. J. Englert (1876-1954) |
32 | 1919-1951 | ||||
| Gudmundur Grimson (1878-1965) |
32 | 1926-1949 S.Ct. 1949-1958 | ||||
| Benny A. Graff (1938- ) |
30 | 1974-2004 | ||||
| Arthur J. Gronna (1897-1965) |
29 | 1933-1962 | ||||
| Douglas B. Heen (1920-2001) |
27 | 1959-1986 | ||||
| Frank T. Lembke (1870-1951) |
27 | 1919-1946 | ||||
| William H. Hutchinson (1882-1969) |
27 | 1929-1956 | ||||
| Joel D. Medd (1947- ) |
27 | 1979-present | ||||
| Norman J. Backes (1937- ) |
26 | 1978-2004 | ||||
| Lawrence A. Leclerc (1934- ) |
26 | 1979-2004 | ||||
| Michael O. McGuire (1941- ) |
26 | 1979-2004 | ||||
| William A. Neumann (1944- ) |
26 | 1979-1992 S.Ct. 1992-2005 | ||||
| Eugene A. Burdick (1912-2000) |
25 | 1953-1978 | ||||
| John T. Paulson (1943- ) |
25 | 1981-present | ||||
| Allan Schmalenberger (1946- ) |
25 | 1981-present | ||||
| Fred Jansonius (1877-1949) |
24 | 1923-1947 | ||||
| James H. O'Keefe (1930-2003) |
24 | 1970-1994 | ||||
| Ray G. McFarland (1880-1960) |
24 | 1929-1953 | ||||
| Everett Nels Olson (1939- ) |
23 | 1979-2002 | ||||
| Harry L. Berry (1871-1944) |
23 | 1921-1944 | ||||
| Kirk Smith (1930- ) |
23 | 1977-2000 | ||||
| Martin C. Fredricks (1912-1985) |
23 | 1961-1984 | ||||
| P. G. Swenson (1866-1959) |
23 | 1927-1950 | ||||
| Walter H. Winchester (1844-1913) |
23 | 1889-1912 | ||||
| William F. Hodny (1932- ) |
23 | 1975-1998 | ||||
| Charles J. Fisk (1862-1932) |
21 | 1897-1906 S.Ct. 1907-1916 | ||||
| Roy A. Ilvedson (1910-1993) |
21 | 1948-1952 1962-1980 |
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| George M. McKenna (1879-1971) |
21 | 1921-1942 | ||||
| David E. Morgan (1849-1912) |
21 | 1890-1900 S.Ct. 1901-1911 | ||||
| John C. Lowe (1873-1950) |
21 | 1921-1942 | ||||
| William Beede (1922- ) |
21 | 1971-1992 | ||||
| Donald L. Jorgensen (1944- ) |
21 | 1985-present | ||||
| Albert C. Bakken (1920- ) |
20 | 1967-1987 | ||||
| Robert L. Eckert (1932-1998) |
20 | 1975-1995 | ||||
| Roy K. Redetzke (1905-1982) |
20 | 1958-1978 | ||||
| Obert C. Teigen (1908-1978) |
20 | 1954-1959 S.Ct. 1959-1974 | ||||
An Alphabetical Index of District Court Judge Biographies