Hon. Lyonel F. Norris (Ret.) was a judge for the 4th Judicial District Court of Minnesota in Hennepin County. He was appointed by Governor Mark Dayton in 2011. Norris retired in 2017 and was appointed to serve as a referee in Hennepin County in 2022.
Norris held assignments in the Criminal and Juvenile Divisions.
Prior to his appointment, he served as an assistant federal defender (2002 to 2011), the Director of the Office of Equity in the Minnesota Department of Education (2000 to 2002), a state public defender (1995 to 2000), an assistant state public defender (1991 to 1994), a supervising attorney in the Civil Practice Clinic at the University of Minnesota Law School (1989 to 1990), and a law clerk for the Hon. Michael J. Davis with the Minneapolis Municipal Court (1983 to 1985) and the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota (1994 to 1995).
Norris also taught as an adjunct professor in the Department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Studies at Hamline University and an adjunct faculty member in the Criminal Appeals Clinic at William Mitchell College of Law.
He received a B.A. from Carleton College in 1977. Norris went on to complete a J.D. at the University of Minnesota Law School in 1983.
He has served on the Board of Directors of the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, the Children’s Law Center, Central Minnesota Legal Services, and the American Youth Work Center. Norris was also a member of the Hospital Review Board for Anoka Metropolitan Regional Treatment Center and the Minneapolis Advisory Council on Disabilities.
He was raised in Washington, D.C.