# John R. Tunheim *American federal judge; senior United States district judge, District of Minnesota* John Raymond Tunheim (born 1953) is a senior judge of the [[United States District Court for the District of Minnesota]]. President Bill Clinton nominated him to the court in 1995.[^1][^2] He was the court's chief judge from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2022, and took senior status on December 1, 2023.[^1][^2] Before joining the bench, Tunheim worked from 1984 to 1995 in the office of the [[Attorney General of Minnesota]]. He rose to chief deputy attorney general there and tried three cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. From 1994 to 1995 he chaired the Assassination Records Review Board, the body that oversaw the gathering of records on the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[^3] ## Education and early career Tunheim is a native of Thief River Falls, [[Minnesota]], and was born in 1953.[^1][^3] He earned a bachelor's degree in political science and history from Concordia College in Moorhead in 1975. As a student he interned for Senator [[Hubert Humphrey]], and after graduating he worked as a Minnesota field representative.[^3] He studied at the [[University of Minnesota Law School]] from 1977 to 1980 and was president of the *Minnesota Law Review*.[^3] The law school's 2022 announcement identifies him as a member of its class of 1980.[^4] After law school he served as a law clerk to Judge [[Earl R. Larson]] of the federal district court in Minnesota. From 1981 to 1984 he practiced with the firm Oppenheimer, Wolff, Foster, Shepard and Donnelly.[^3] In 1984 he moved to the state attorney general's office, where he held these posts: - assistant attorney general and head of the Public Affairs Litigation Division, 1984–1985; - state solicitor general, 1985–1986; - chief deputy attorney general, 1986–1995.[^3] During those years he tried three cases at the U.S. Supreme Court: *Hodgson v. Minnesota* and *[[Perpich v. Department of Defense]]*, both in 1989, and *Growe v. Emison* in 1992.[^3] In 1994 Tunheim taught as an adjunct professor at the law school. From 1994 to 1995 he was chair of the Assassination Records Review Board.[^3] He appeared in the 2021 documentary *JFK Revisited: Through the Looking Glass*. In 2025 he testified at the second hearing of the [[House Oversight]] Committee's Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets.[^3] He has also worked with more than a dozen foreign countries on drafting and revising their constitutions, laws and court systems.[^3] ## Federal judicial service Clinton nominated Tunheim on July 10, 1995, to the District of Minnesota seat left vacant by [[Donald Alsop]].[^1][^2] The Senate confirmed him on December 22, 1995, and his commission issued on December 26.[^1][^2] From 2000 to 2005 he was a member of the federal Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, and he chaired that committee from 2005 to 2009.[^2] His term as chief judge ran from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2022. He took senior status on December 1, 2023.[^1][^2] The law school's April 4, 2022 announcement of its commencement speaker refers to him as chief judge.[^4] ### Notable decisions In 2014 Tunheim sentenced several members of the Native Mob. The group was based in Minnesota and Wisconsin and had about 200 members, and the FBI had identified it in 2011 as among the largest and most violent Native American gangs in the United States.[^5] On October 7, 2014, he sentenced the group's leader, Wakinyon "Killa" Wakan Mcarthur, to 43 years in prison. The counts included racketeering and controlled-substance distribution offenses.[^5] In 2016 Tunheim presided over the federal child pornography case against [[Danny Heinrich]]. Heinrich was the man who had kidnapped 12-year-old [[Jacob Wetterling]] at gunpoint in St. Peter, Minnesota, and later sexually assaulted and murdered him in Paynesville, Minnesota.[^5] Heinrich pleaded guilty to the child pornography charges. At sentencing, Tunheim told him the crime reached beyond those charges, saying, "you stole the innocence of children in small towns, in the cities of Minnesota and beyond."[^5] He sentenced Heinrich to 20 years in prison.[^5] In early 2026 Tunheim issued several rulings on an operation of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.[^5] ### *Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite* The project's claim:link catalogue lists *Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite* as a federal case settled in 1998 with Tunheim presiding, and links a reported district-court opinion in the case.[^6] The record assembled for this article does not establish the claims, the parties' positions or the terms of the settlement.[^6] ## Personal life Tunheim lives in Minnesota with his wife, Kathryn Hill Tunheim, who is chief executive of the communications firm Tunheim.[^7] They met in 1976, when she was volunteering on Senator Humphrey's election campaign. They married in 1977 and have two children.[^7] ## Awards The National Association of Attorneys General gave Tunheim its President's Distinguished Service Award in 1988 and its Marvin Award in 1991.[^8] The [[University of Minnesota]]'s Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs named him a Mondale Fellow for 1992–1993 and gave him its Outstanding Achievement Award in 2010.[^8] In 1993 the *Minnesota Journal of Law & Politics* listed him as a Rising Star Lawyer.[^8] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - John R. Tunheim, senior United States district judge, District of Minnesota.[^1][^2] ### What - Chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2022.[^1][^2] - Chief deputy attorney general of Minnesota, 1986–1995.[^3] - Chair of the Assassination Records Review Board, 1994–1995.[^3] ### When - Nominated July 10, 1995.[^1][^2] - Confirmed December 22, 1995.[^1][^2] - Commissioned December 26, 1995.[^1][^2] - Senior status from December 1, 2023.[^1][^2] - Announced on April 4, 2022, as the University of Minnesota Law School's 2022 commencement speaker.[^4] ### Where - District of Minnesota.[^1][^2] ### How - Listed in the project's catalogue as presiding judge in *Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite*, settled in 1998.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Federal Judicial Center, *John R. Tunheim* (Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, n.d.) — the Federal Judicial Center's biographical entry for Tunheim, cited for his federal judicial service. https://www.fjc.gov/history/judges/tunheim-john-r [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *John R. Tunheim*, section *Federal judicial service* (rev. 1379531722, retrieved 2026-10-26) — nomination, confirmation, commission, committee service, chief-judge term and senior status. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *John R. Tunheim*, section *Education and early career* (rev. 1379531722, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth, education, clerkship, private practice, attorney general's office posts, Supreme Court cases, Assassination Records Review Board, 2025 testimony and foreign work. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim [^4]: University of Minnesota Law School, *Chief Judge John R. Tunheim '80 to Deliver 2022 Commencement Address* (April 4, 2022) — announces Tunheim, class of 1980, as the 2022 commencement speaker and identifies him as chief judge. https://law.umn.edu/news/2022-04-04-chief-judge-john-r-tunheim-80-deliver-2022-commencement-address [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *John R. Tunheim*, section *Notable decisions* (rev. 1379531722, retrieved 2026-10-26) — Native Mob sentencings (2014), the Heinrich case and sentence (2016), and the 2026 rulings on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim [^6]: Justia (reporting the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota), *Jenson v. Eveleth Taconite* (reported opinion) — linked by the project's claim:link catalogue (row S-7870) as the 1998-settled case over which Tunheim presided. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/824/888/2342614/ [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *John R. Tunheim*, section *Personal life* (rev. 1379531722, retrieved 2026-10-26) — marriage, family and spouse's occupation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *John R. Tunheim*, section *Awards* (rev. 1379531722, retrieved 2026-10-26) — awards from the National Association of Attorneys General, the Humphrey Institute and the *Minnesota Journal of Law & Politics*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_R._Tunheim