Natalie E. Hudson, Associate Justice 2015-2023, Chief Justice 2023-

Natalie E. Hudson was appointed Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2023

Appointment/Election:

Natalie E. Hudson joined the Minnesota Supreme Court on Oct. 26, 2015, by appointment of Governor Mark Dayton. She was elected in 2016 and 2022. She was appointed Chief Justice by Governor Tim Walz on October 2, 2023. Elected in 2024. Her current term as Chief Justice expires Jan. 2031.

Natalie E. Hudson joined the Minnesota Court of Appeals on June 3, 2002, by appointment of Governor Jesse Ventura.  She was elected to the post in 2004 and re-elected in 2010.

Professional Experience:

Justice Hudson was a staff attorney with Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services, Inc., from 1982 to 1986, where she practiced housing law; an associate attorney in employment law and general civil litigation at the law firm of Robins, Kaplan, Miller and Ciresi from 1986 to 1988; an Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Hamline University School of Law from 1989 to 1992; and St. Paul City Attorney from 1992 to 1994.  From 1994 until her appointment to the Court of Appeals, she was employed with the Office of the Minnesota Attorney General, primarily in the Criminal Appellate Division. 

Education:

Justice Hudson graduated from Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ, in 1979, and the University of Minnesota Law School in 1982, where she served on the Law Review staff and was Editor-in-Chief of Quaere, the law school newspaper (1980-1981).

Personal and Community:

Justice Hudson is a member of several associations, including the American Bar Association, the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Ramsey County Bar Association, the Advisory Board of Minnesota Women Lawyers, the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers, and the Minnesota Association of Black Women Lawyers.  From 1993 to 2001, she served on the Implementation Committee on Multicultural Diversity and Racial Fairness in the Courts. She also served on the Minnesota Supreme Court Racial Bias Task Force (1991-1993), and served on the Minnesota Legal Services Planning Committee from 2008-2011. In Sept. 2011, Justice Hudson was selected to serve on the Warren E. Burger Inn of Court as a group leader. She also served on the Alumni Board of the University of Minnesota Law School from 2004 to 2010. She also has served as a “reading buddy” with the Everybody Wins tutorial program at Benjamin E. Mays Elementary School and participates annually in the Minnesota Court of Appeals Dorothy Day Center cookout.

Justice Hudson is married to the Reverend Willie Hudson, retired Pastor of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church in Minneapolis and the past Chaplain Coordinator for the St. Paul Police Department. Justice Hudson’s stepson, Kobie, is an attorney and criminal intelligence analyst with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.