East Central District Judges

Susan Bailey

Thu, 06 Sep 2018 21:30:59 GMT

Judge Susan Bailey was elected as a District Court Judge in 2014 for the East Central Judicial District judgeship #1, located in Fargo, North Dakota.

Born in 1963, Judge Bailey graduated from the University of North Dakota in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. She earned her Master of Arts in Counseling in 1988 and her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1997. She was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on October 6, 1997.

Judge Bailey served as an Administrative Law Judge from 2006 to 2014. She was the Municipal Court Judge for the cities of West Fargo and Horace from 2004 to 2014, and for Tower City, Kindred, and Davenport from 2009 to 2014. From 2001 to 2006, she served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cass County.

Reid A. Brady

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 19:45:20 GMT

Judge Reid Brady was elected as District Court Judge in 2020 for the East Central Judicial District, Judgeship #5, located in Fargo, North Dakota.

Born in 1973, Judge Brady is a native of Fargo, North Dakota. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from North Dakota State University and his Master of Science from Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM). He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1999 and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on September 24, 1999.

Following law school, Judge Brady served as a law clerk for Justice Carol Kapsner at the North Dakota Supreme Court from 1999 to 2000. He then worked as an Assistant North Dakota Attorney General from 2000 to 2003, and later as an Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney from 2004 to 2020.

Cherie L. Clark

Tue, 11 Sep 2018 21:17:55 GMT

Judge Clark was appointed to the District Court bench by Governor Doug Burgum in 2017, serving in Judgeship No. 1 of the Southeast Judicial District, located in Jamestown, North Dakota. In 2023, she was again appointed by Governor Burgum to fill Judgeship No. 11 in the East Central Judicial District.

Born in 1969, Judge Clark earned her Bachelor of Science degrees in Biology and Chemistry from the University of South Dakota in 1996. She completed a Master’s degree in Public Administration in 1997 and obtained her Juris Doctor in 2000. She was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on January 8, 2007.

Prior to her judicial appointment, Judge Clark served as an Assistant County Attorney for Otter Tail County, Minnesota, from 2002 to 2006, and as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Cass County, North Dakota, from 2006 to 2017.

Constance L. Cleveland

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 14:10:51 GMT

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.

Scott O. Diamond

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 19:04:47 GMT

Scott O. Diamond

Stephanie Hayden

Fri, 28 Jul 2023 21:07:00 GMT

Judge Hayden was appointed to the North Dakota District Court by Governor Doug Burgum in 2023. She serves in Judgeship #10 of the East Central Judicial District, located in Fargo, N.D.

A native of West Fargo, Judge Hayden was born in 1978. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of North Dakota in 2001 and her Bachelor of Science degree in Paralegal Studies from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2003. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 2008 and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on September 15, 2008.

Judge Hayden began her legal career as a law clerk for the district court judges in the East Central Judicial District from 2008 to 2009. She then entered private legal practice, where she worked from 2009 to 2020. From 2020 until her judicial appointment in 2023, she served as a Judicial Referee and Magistrate in the East Central Judicial District.

Stephannie N. Stiel

Thu, 06 Sep 2018 21:50:08 GMT

Judge Stephannie N. Stiel was appointed to the North Dakota District Court by Governor Doug Burgum in 2017, serving in the East Central Judicial District, Judgeship No. 9, located in Fargo, N.D.

Born in 1978 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Judge Stiel earned her Bachelor of Science degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Minnesota State University Moorhead in 2000. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 2003 and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on October 6, 2003.

Following law school, Judge Stiel served as a law clerk for the North Dakota Supreme Court from 2003 to 2004. She then practiced law privately in Fargo from 2004 until her judicial appointment in 2017.

Tristan J. Van de Streek

Thu, 17 Jan 2019 22:19:01 GMT

Judge Van de Streek was appointed as District Court Judge by Governor Doug Burgum in 2019 for Judgeship No. 2 of the East Central Judicial District, located in Fargo, N.D.

Born in 1976, Judge Van de Streek attended Minot State University, where he earned a Bachelor of Administration in 2000. He went on to receive his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 2003 and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on October 6, 2003.

Prior to his judicial appointment, Judge Van de Streek practiced law privately in Minot from 2003 to 2007. He then served as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cass County from 2007 to 2018.

Wade L. Webb

Thu, 06 Sep 2018 21:50:38 GMT

Judge Webb was appointed to the East Central Judicial District judgeship No. 7, located in Hillsboro, N.D., by Governor John Hoeven in 2003. He was elected to the position in 2006 and re-elected in 2008 and 2014.

Born in 1970 in Grafton, North Dakota, Judge Webb is a 1988 graduate of Oak Grove Lutheran High School in Fargo. He earned his Bachelor of Administration degree from Concordia College, Moorhead, Minnesota, in 1992, and his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1995.

Following law school, Judge Webb served as a Minnesota District Court law clerk from 1995 to 1996. He then worked as an Assistant State’s Attorney in Cass County, where he led the Personal Crimes Team from 1996 to 2003.

Ryan Younggren

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 14:50:12 GMT

Judge Younggren was elected to the North Dakota District Court in 2024. He serves in Judgeship No. 8 of the East Central Judicial District, located in Fargo, N.D.

Born in 1974, Judge Younggren was raised on a Red River Valley farm near Hallock, Minnesota and graduated from Kittson Central High School. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration (BSPA) from the University of North Dakota in 1997, the flood year, and a Juris Doctorate (JD) from the University of Denver in 2000. While in law school, Judge Younggren was a legal intern for Federal Magistrate Judge Bruce D. Pringle of the Colorado District Court. His career as a lawyer began at the firm Ogborn, Summerlin, and Ogborn and he next was a Denver Deputy District Attorney from 2001-2007. He and his family moved home to Fargo and he became an Assistant Cass County State’s Attorney from 2007-2024. Judge Younggren has taught trial practice at the University of North Dakota School of Law for many years.