The Hon. Rhonda R. Ehlis is a judge for the North Dakota Southwest Judicial District. She was appointed to the bench by former Governor Jack Dalrymple on July 27, 2015.
The Southwest Judicial District includes Adams County, Billings County, Bowman County, Dunn County, Golden Valley County, Hettinger County, Slope County, and Stark County.
Prior to her appointment, Ehlis was an assistant state’s attorney for the Stark County State’s Attorney’s Office, a position to which she was named in 2006. Before that, she spent time as an attorney at Hardy, Maus & Nordsven in Dickinson (2001 to 2006).
Ehlis earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Dakota in 1990. She then completed a J.D. at the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1993.
After graduating from law school, Ehlis began her legal career as a staff attorney for Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians at the Legal Assistance of North Dakota in Devils Lake. She worked in that capacity until 1995, at which time she became a staff attorney for the North Dakota Regional Child Support Enforcement Office in Bismarck.
Born in Bowman, North Dakota, Ehlis attended Scranton High School. She attends St. Patrick’s Catholic Church.