ST. PAUL, MN – Governor Tim Walz and Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan today announced the appointment of Sydnee Woods as District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District. Woods will be replacing the Honorable David L. Piper and will be chambered in Minneapolis in Hennepin County.

“It is my honor to appoint Sydnee Woods to the Hennepin County bench,” said Governor Walz. “She has served as a trusted advocate and advisor to several of our state and local government’s most critical agencies, and I am confident that these experiences will help her excel as a judge.”

“I applaud Sydnee Woods’s appointment,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “She has demonstrated true care and compassion for those she serves. Her impressive legal background, combined with her own lived experience, has prepared her well for this important role.”

Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District encompasses Hennepin County.

Sydnee Woods is general counsel for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. In this role, she provides legal and policy analysis, risk assessment, and litigation management for the agency, which includes the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Minnesota State Patrol, Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and the State Fire Marshal. Woods was previously an attorney for the City of Minneapolis, Ramsey County, and the Metropolitan Council. She was also a law clerk to Chief Judge Edward Toussaint, Jr. on the Minnesota Court of Appeals and an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Law School and Mitchell Hamline School of Law. Her community involvement includes volunteering with the University of St. Thomas School of Law Mentor Externship program, Minnesota Women Lawyers’ Student to Attorney Mentoring program, U.S. District Court’s Open Doors program, and Everybody Wins reading program. Woods is a member of Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She earned her B.A. from Loyola University Chicago and J.D. from Tulane Law School.