Members and Staff

The current Board members and staff are listed below. Communications to Board Members should be sent to:

Board on Judicial Standards
1270 Northland Drive, Suite 160
Mendota Heights, MN  55120

       Board Members  
   
Judge Shereen M. Askalani
Minneapolis
2020 – 2027
Judge of District Court (Fourth District).  Appointed to bench in 2016. Assistant Ramsey County Attorney  from 2002 to 2016. Appointed to the Board on Judicial standards in 2020.
 
Judge Louise Dovre Bjorkman
St. Paul
2017 – 2025
 
Vice Chair. Appointed to the Court of Appeals in 2008.  Judge, Second Judicial District Court, 1998-2005.  Private practice of law, 1985-1998 and 2005-2008.
Scott A. Fischer
Saint Paul
2022 – 2026
 
Public member.  Dr. Fischer is a forensic psychologist in private practice in Saint Paul.  He is the former chair of the Minnesota Board of Psychology.
 
Theresa M. Harris
Minneapolis
2022 – 2026
 
Attorney member.  In-house counsel at a corporation providing legal advice regarding complex business contracts, product labeling and advertising claims, marketing-related regulations, and legal compliance.   
 
Judge Charlene Hatcher
Minneapolis
2022 – 2026

Judge of District Court (4th District). Appointed in 2016.                             

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Judge Theresa M. Neo
Duluth
2020 – 2028
Judge of District Court (Sixth District). Appointed in 2014. Assistant Duluth City Attorney 2010-2014. Staff Attorney Indian Legal Assistance Program 2005-2010, Attorney Safe Haven Shelter 2002-2005.
 
Timothy O'Brien
Edina
2019 – 2027
 

Chair. Attorney member. Retired partner, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP. Served as a member of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board from 1997-2003, as a member of the Minnesota Client Security Board from 2007-2013, and as a member of the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection from 2011-2018.     

                                                         

Scott Sakaguchi
Edina
2021 – 2025
 
Executive Committee Member. Public member. Appointed in 2021. He was trained as a cardiologist and, in 2019, retired from practice as a Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota.
 
Debbie J. Toberman
Plymouth
2020 – 2027
Public member. Claim Supervisor at Minnesota Lawyers Mutual Insurance Company.  Ms. Toberman previously served on the Minnesota Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and the Hennepin County Ethics Committee.
 
Nhia Vang
Woodbury
2019 – 2027
 
Public member.  Ms. Vang works for the City of Saint Paul and  has more than 20 years' experience in public service in the areas of administration, budget, and policy.
 
        Staff  
   
Sara P. Boeshans Executive Secretary.  Admitted to practice in 2007. Ms. Boeshans clerked for Judge Marybeth Dorn, Second Judicial District, after which she was employed as an Assistant Attorney General in the public safety and health licensing divisions of the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office. She served as the Board on Judicial Standards' Staff Attorney for eight years.
 
Amy J. Ihlan Staff Attorney.  Ms. Ihlan has both a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, with a specialty in ethics.  She clerked for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and for former Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Marianne Short.  She brings years of experience as a practicing attorney and college professor to her new position as staff attorney for the Board on Judicial Standards. 

 

Mary Pat Maher

 

Executive Assistant.  Prior to working for the Board, Ms. Maher served as Executive Director of Project Remand - Ramsey County Pretrial Services for 26 years where she colloborated with her justice partners to improve the pretrial justice system in Ramsey County and statewide.