Lucinda E. Jesson, Judge, 2016-2023

Judge Lucinda E. Jesson was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals by Governor Mark Dayton on January 4, 2016.

In 2006, she left her firm to join the Hamline University School of Law faculty. Judge Jesson was the founding Director of the Health Law Institute at Hamline University School of Law, which was established in 2006 to bridge gaps between health law scholarship and policy through engagement, collaboration, and innovation; to serve as a regional forum for addressing issues in health law and policy; and to provide programs, training, and educational opportunities for future health law leaders. On January 13, 2001, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Judge Jesson Commissioner of Human Services. During her time as Commissioner, she created an Office of Inspector General in DHS to detect and prevent waste and abuse in public benefits, oversaw the rollout of the MNsure health insurance marketplace, and administered programs that serve more than one million Minnesotans.

On January 4, 2016, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Judge Jesson to a seat on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. She was re-elected to her position in 2018. In addition to her governmental and judicial duties, Judge Jesson has served as co-chair of the Children's Justice Initiative, the Governor's Task Force on Child Protection, the Task Force on Health Care Financing, and the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness. 

Jesson married Mitchell | Hamline law school professor Peter Knapp in 1986.

Judge Jesson retired from the court on September 1, 2023.

You may read more about the life and work of Judge Lucinda E. Jesson in the research resources linked in this guide which are the sources of this brief biography.