WINONA, Minn. – A Preston attorney, Dwight David Luhmann, has been appointed to a state judgeship for Winona County. The appointment was announced b Governor Tim Walz. Luhmann, age 54, succeeds Mary Leahy, who is retiring this summer in the middle of her latest six-year term. Luhmann has been in private practice mostly for clients in Fillmore County. He holds a law degree from University of North Dakota. In private practice in Preston his fees have been $200 to $300 an hour. His new judgeship pays $197,000. Before hanging his own shingle, Luhmann was in the Joerg & Luhmann law firm in Preston. As a Winona County judge he will be on the bench with Nancy Buytendorp. The county has two judges, both of whom report to Joseph Buelel in Rochester, chief judge of Minnesota’s Third Judicial. District. The district covers 11 southeast Minnesota counties and 23 judges.
Luhmann. An interim gubernatorial appointee. Eventually will be on the ballot for election to the judgeship.