MAIBA Congratulates Sarah Wheelock’s Appointment as a Judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals

On November 17, 2021, Governor Tim Walk announced the appointment of Sarah Wheelock as a Judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals. MAIBA would like to congratulate Sarah on her appointment!

Sarah, an attorney for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, will become the first Native American judge to serve on the Minnesota Court of Appeals!

She will replace the retiring Judge Carol Hooten in a seat designated for the Second Congressional District.

“In her time serving as legal counsel for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community and tribes across the nation, Ms. Wheelock has repeatedly shown that she is a dedicated public servant committed to advancing the common good,” Walz said in a statement Friday. “She is well prepared to join the Court of Appeals.”

Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan called Wheelock a “brilliant legal mind with a deep understanding of the laws of the land” and cited her “life experience, longstanding service to her community, and her extensive legal background” as providing a “unique perspective that will be invaluable in her new position.”

Before becoming legal counsel for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community in Prior Lake, Wheelock also worked as an adjunct professor at Mitchell Hamline College of Law and as an appellate judge for the White Earth Band of Chippewa Court of Appeals.

Wheelock is a member of the Meskwaki Nation, which is federally recognized as the Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa. She earned her bachelor of arts and juris doctor degrees from the University of Iowa and is a member and past president of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association. She also is a member of the National Native American and Federal Bar associations.