Armstrong appoints Devils Lake attorney Ashley Samuelson to Northeast Judicial District judgeship

BISMARCK, N.D. - Gov. Kelly Armstrong today appointed Devils Lake attorney Ashley Samuelson to an open judgeship in the Northeast Judicial District, effective Nov. 30.

Samuelson has served as a staff attorney for the Northeast Judicial District since 2017, assisting district judges with civil and felony-level trials and drafting and editing court orders. She served as a special assistant attorney general for the Devils Lake Regional Child Support Unit from 2011 to 2017, representing North Dakota in state and tribal court matters involving paternity and child support. She previously spent three years in private practice with Vogel Law Firm, representing clients in medical/legal malpractice cases, personal injury, workers' compensation and probate and estate, and served as a law clerk for now-retired North Dakota Supreme Court Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle.

Raised in Edmore, Samuelson earned her bachelor's degree from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and her law degree from the UND School of Law in 2007. She currently serves as the Northeast Judicial District's regional representative to the State Bar Association of North Dakota and as vice president of the Lake Region Bar Association. She is certified in adult mental health first aid and previously served as an emergency medical technician (EMT) for the Edmore Volunteer Ambulance Service.

The Northeast Judicial District judgeship vacancy was created by the retirement of Judge Donovan Foughty on Sept. 30. Foughty had served the district since 1995. Three attorneys were named as finalists for the judgeship, which is chambered in Devils Lake.

The Northeast Judicial District includes 11 counties: Benson, Bottineau, Cavalier, McHenry, Pembina, Pierce, Ramsey, Renville, Rolette, Towner and Walsh.