FARGO, N.D. (AP) - North Dakota’s only full-time federal judge says he’ll go into semi-retirement next year.
Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland tells KFGO radio that he has informed President Donald Trump that he plans to take senior status on his 65th birthday.
But Hovland says he’ll continue to carry “a fairly full-time caseload” for a while because of what he says is a “significant” backlog of criminal and civil cases.
Hovland has been the only federal judge in North Dakota since Judge Ralph Erickson was elevated to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals about a year ago. Hovland says he hopes both positions can be filled before he steps away next November.
Hovland is based in Bismarck. He was nominated to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2002.
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Information from: KFGO-AM, http://www.kfgo.com
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