WILLMAR -- Teresa Fredrickson, court administrator for Kandiyohi County, has been appointed to serve as court administrator for Swift and Meeker counties.
According to Eighth Judicial District Administrator Tim Ostby, Fredrickson's appointment to serve the three counties was made by the district judges on May 5. The vacancies were created by the judicial district's voluntary separation incentive program, under which Linda Jagush, court administrator in Meeker County, and Carol Jenson, Swift County administrator, retired in April.
Fredrickson, who has been the Kandiyohi County administrator since October 2001, says she's approaching her new responsibilities as a new job and is working with staff members to make sure the court administration offices are meeting their mission.
"That's why we are here, to serve the public," she said. "We need to be at as high a level as possible with the resources we have."
Fredrickson has set a goal of physically being in each of the three offices twice per week, but she's using the court's computer systems, e-mail and telephone to continually monitor activity in each office.
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According to Ostby, combining the administration of the three counties was included in the district's long-range plans, adopted by the judges in 2005. The 13-county Eighth District has four dual-county administrators, but Fredrickson is the first to oversee three counties.
The change is one piece of the funding puzzle for the state's court system, which received a 1.3 percent, $4 million funding cut as part of budget balancing efforts enacted by the state Legislature.
Both Ostby and Fredrickson say the Eighth District has been very progressive in cost efficiencies, and has not needed to make dramatic changes, such as closing courthouses and reducing service hours, under the budget cuts.
