Jay A. Schmitz

Judge Schmitz was elected in 2010 as District Court Judge for the Southeast Judicial District #6, located in Valley City, N.D. He was re-elected in 2010 and 2016.  

Born in 1962 in Pierre, S.D.; Judge Schmitz was raised on a cattle ranch near Verona, N.D. He graduated from Oakes High School in 1980. He received his Bachelors of Administration in Political Science from Moorhead State University in 1985.  He received his Juris Doctor from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, CA in 1989; and was admitted to the N.D. State Bar on May 1, 2000.

After graduation, Judge Schmitz worked in private legal practice in Los Angeles, CA from 1989-1995. After moving back to North Dakota, he worked in private legal practice in Oakes, N.D. from 2000-2002. He served as the Stutsman County Chief Assistant State's Attorney in Jamestown, N.D. from 2003-2010.