WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that President Biden nominated Laura Provinzino to serve as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Currently serving as an Assistant United States Attorney with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, Provinzino was one of the candidates sent to President Biden by Senators Klobuchar and Smith following the recommendation of a judicial selection committee.
“As a widely respected Assistant United States Attorney with over twenty years of legal experience, Laura Provinzino is extremely qualified to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge,” said Klobuchar. “Born and raised in St. Cloud, she is dedicated to serving all Minnesotans and has a demonstrated commitment to justice and the rule of law. I look forward to working with my Judiciary Committee colleagues on both sides of the aisle to confirm her.”
“Laura Provinzino has spent her career serving Minnesotans, advancing justice and protecting the rule of law.” said Smith. “She will make an exceptional U.S. District Court Judge and I want to congratulate her on her nomination.”
Laura Provinzino was born and raised in St. Cloud, and attended St. Cloud Technical High School. Her mother taught at Apollo High School, and her father was a lawyer in St. Cloud. Provinzino has spent her entire legal career in Minnesota.
She has served as an Assistant United States Attorney since 2010. As a prosecutor, she has led efforts to prosecute violent crime, human trafficking, child pornography, and crimes against Native American women. In 2023, Provinzino was awarded the Attorney General’s David Margolis Award for Exceptional Service for her work in prosecuting an international sex trafficking organization that victimized hundreds of women. This is the highest award given by the Justice Department to recognize employee achievement.
Prior to joining the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Provinzino worked as an associate at Robins Kaplan LLP. She received a B.A., with honors, from Lewis and Clark College in 1998 and Oxford University, as a Rhodes Scholar, in 2000. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2002. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana Murphy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit from 2003 to 2004.
Laura Provinzino was recommended by the Judicial Selection Committee, which was chaired by Lucinda Jesson, former judge on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, and included Johnathan Judd, Judge on Minnesota’s Seventh Judicial Court; David Lillehaug, former Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court and former U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota; Miguel Pozo, Member at Cozen O’Connor and former President of the Hispanic National Bar Association; Kristine Weeks, Judge on Minnesota’s Fifth Judicial Court and former assistant public defender; and X. Kevin Zhao, partner at Greene Espel PLLP.
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