The Hon. Douglas C. Bayley is a judge for the 1st Judicial District Court of Minnesota. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Mark Dayton on July 20, 2016, filling a vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Thomas W. Bibus.
The First Judicial District includes Carver County, Dakota County, Goodhue County, Le Sueur County, Scott County, and Sibley County.
Prior to his appointment, Bayley was an assistant public defender for the First Judicial District Public Defender’s Office, a position to which he was named in 2005. Before that, he spent time as a contract attorney at Lundblad, Fossum & Zrimsek in Northfield (2004 to 2005) and a law clerk for the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office (2002 to 2003).
Bayley earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations from Carleton College in 1986. He spent the next few years working as a volunteer for the United States Peace Corps in Ghana before completing a master’s degree in African affairs and international economics from Johns Hopkins University (1991) and a J.D. at the University of Minnesota Law School (2004).
His memberships have included the Minnesota State Bar Association. He also sat on the Board of Directors of the Red Wing Family YMCA, the Anderson Center at Tower View, and the Hedin-Hartnagel Memorial Fund.
Before pursuing a legal career, Bayley worked as a legislative correspondent for Max Baucus of the United States Senate in 1992. He also spent several years with the United States Department of State, where he served as a foreign service officer in Nepal, Uganda, and Washington, D.C. (1992 to 2000).