Constance L. Cleveland

Judge Cleveland was elected as District Court Judge in 2022 for the East Central Judicial District judgeship #4 located in Fargo, ND. 

Born in Grand Forks in 1960, Judge Cleveland graduated from East Grand Forks Senior High School.  She obtained her Bachelor's of Science in secondary education from the University of North Dakota, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1988. She was admitted to the N.D. State Bar on October 4, 1988; the Minnesota Bar in 1988; the U.S. District Court of North Dakota in 1989; Eighth Circut Court of Appeals in 1992; and the United States Supreme Court in 2003.  Judge Cleveland obtained her specialist certification from the National Association of Counsel for Children as a Child Welfare Law Specialist in 2003 until 2023. As a student, Judge Cleveland served as a law clerk for Judge Kirk Smith in the North Central Judicial District and was an intern at the Grand Fork's State's Attorneys office.  She was also a law clerk at Massee, Leonard and Lindquist law firm in East Grand Forks, MN. 

Judge Cleveland served as in-house counsel and child protection attorney for Cass County Social Services from 1997 to 2022; Special Assistant Attorney General from 2003 to 2012 representing the North Dakota Department of Human Services; Assistant Cass County State's Attorney in the criminal division from 1991 to 1997; Assistant Burleigh County State's Attorney from 1989 to 1991; and Judicial Law Clerk in Minnesota's Ninth Judicial District from 1988 to 1989.  

Judge Cleveland served as an adjunct professor at Minnesota State University in Moorhead, MN for twenty-seven years beginning in 1996.