Hon. John A. Thelen is a judge for the Northeast Central Judicial District of North Dakota. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Jack Dalrymple in 2015, filling the vacancy created by the retirement of the Hon. Lawrence E. Jahnke (Ret.).
The Northeast Central Judicial District includes Grand Forks and Nelson Counties.
Prior to his appointment, Thelen presided for six years as a judicial referee and magistrate in Grand Forks County (2009 to 2015). Before that, he worked in private practice (1981 to 2009).
Thelen received a B.S. in economics from the University of North Dakota in 1978. He went on to complete a J.D. at the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1981.
Thelen was admitted to practice in North Dakota (1981), Minnesota (1989), the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota (1981), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.