The Hon. Gail Hagerty (Ret.) served as a judge for the North Dakota South Central Judicial District. Hagerty was elected to the bench in 1994. She retired on March 16, 2020.
The South Central Judicial District includes Burleigh County, Emmons County, Grant County, McLean County, Mercer County, Morton County, Oliver County, Sioux County, and Sheridan County.
Prior to her election, Hagerty was a judge for the Burleigh County Court, a position to which she was named in 1987. Before that, she spent time as a State’s Attorney for the Burleigh County State’s Attorney’s Office (1982 to 1986).
Hagerty earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Dakota (1975) and a J.D. from the University of North Dakota School of Law (1978). Later, she completed a master’s degree in judicial studies from the University of Nevada-Reno (1994).
After graduating from law school, Hagerty began her legal career as an assistant attorney general for the North Dakota Office of the Attorney General. She worked in that capacity until 1980, at which time she became an assistant state’s attorney for the Burleigh County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Her memberships have included the State Bar Association of North Dakota (president), the North Dakota Judicial Conference, and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws.
Born in Bismarck, North Dakota, Hagerty is married to the Hon. Dale Sandstrom, a former justice for the North Dakota Supreme Court. They have three children. When not presiding over legal proceedings, Hagerty has been involved with an educational program for emerging ministers through the Iowa-based Wartburg Theological Seminary. She serves as a pastoral minister at Grace Lutheran Church in Driscoll.