Hon. Richard A. Zimmerman (Ret.) was a judge for the 9th Judicial District Court of Minnesota in Crow Wing County. He was appointed to the bench by former Governor Arne Carlson on November 5, 1997. Zimmerman retired on September 5, 2017, and was subsequently appointed to serve as a statewide senior judge.
The 9th Judicial District includes Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau Counties. During his judicial tenure, Zimmerman presided over the Crow Wing County Drug Court.
Prior to beginning his judicial career, he was a partner at Ryan, Ryan & Zimmerman. He first joined the firm as an associate in 1980 and was named a partner three years later. While at the firm, Zimmerman also served as an examiner of titles (1988 to 1997) and a public defender (1980 to 1993) in Aitkin County.
He received a B.S. from St. Cloud State University in 1973. Zimmerman then spent five years as a special agent for the United States Treasury (1975 to 1980) before completing a J.D. at William Mitchell College of Law in 1980.
His memberships have included the Minnesota State Bar Association, the 15th District Bar Association (past president), and the Crow Wing/Aitkin County Bar Association.
He also served on the Advisory Board of Central Minnesota Community Corrections and was a former Director of the Aitkin County Violence Prevention Council (Treasurer), the Aitkin County Law Library, and the Aitkin County Chamber of Commerce.