Minnesota State Fair booth bridging gap between citizens, courts

Staff photo: Kevin Featherly / Seventh Judicial District Court Judge Tammy L. Merkins hands a young fairgoer an official handheld Judicial Branch fan Friday at the branch’s State Fair booth. Introduced last year, the booth lets judges and other court employees interact with Minnesota citizens. In the background to the left is Mary Stock, who is a human resources employee in the 7th District.

By Kevin Featherly
kfeatherly@minnlawyer.com

It might not have solved her problem, but at least St. Paul’s Laurie Zaepfel got to take her beef to a judge.

She didn’t seem to mind the venue was the Minnesota State Fair rather than a courtroom.

“I am disappointed that the Minnesota Supreme Court decided that St. Paul has to have a referendum on whether we have organized trash collection or not,” said Zaepfel when asked what she had chatted with a judge about in the Judicial Branch’s State Fair booth on Friday.

“I don’t know any other place anywhere that makes you have like 18 trucks come through the alley every week,” she said. “It’s so stupid!”

Therapeutic complaints are hardly unknown at the booth, but judges volunteering there say that it’s more common for folks to stop by out of pure curiosity.

Staff photo: Kevin Featherly

An unidentified young State Fair visitor demonstrates the proper form when using a judge’s gavel as Anoka County District Court Judge Todd R. Schoffelman, right, stands by. The scene played out at the Judicial Branch’s booth.

“I’ve had a chance to talk to a few people who had some basic questions — how do you become a judge? What’s it like to be a judge?” said Anoka County District Court Judge Todd R. Schoffelman, who manned the booth on Friday. (For the record, he thinks being a judge is great.)

Most people live out their lives without ever having to go court, Schoffelman said. “So they don’t know necessarily what happens,” he said. “Who do they ask the questions to? What does that court administration person do? What does a judge do?”

He said answering those questions is just as valuable to him as it is for the Minnesotans asking them. “It’s good to just have a nice interaction with people,” he said. “Because in our job we don’t really get a chance to really do this.”

Clay County District Court Judge Tammy L. Merkins chambers in Moorhead, so she traveled a long way to the fairgrounds just to don the standard purple Judicial Branch T-shirt and take over for Schoffelman when his booth shift ended.

But for Merkins, the trip was well worth it. She sees the branch’s State Fair presence as a way a move toward making the court system more accessible — and less “scary” — to the citizenry. Certainly, the little fellow who accepted a purple hand-held fan from her didn’t appear the least bit intimidated.

“I think it’s wonderful that we can interact with people and that we also get to talk to them and find out what their stories are,” Merkins said. “The more we can do that, the better.”

The branch’s fair booth is now in its second year. When inaugurated in 2018, more than 40 judges and 83 court staffers volunteered to keep it manned, according to the Judicial Branch.

Just as it was last year, the branch’s fair booth is situated in the southeast corner of the Education Building on Cosgrove Street. This year’s State Fair runs through Sept. 2.