Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Friday announced he has appointed Albert Lean Linda Lares as a Third Judicial District member of the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection.

Lares will be one of the four members of the commission to specifically review judicial vacancies in the Third District. Nine at-large members, who review vacancies all over the state, will also assist.

Lares, the cultural diversity specialist at Semcac Community Action Agency, said she was honored to be asked to be a part of the commission.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve,” she said. “I look forward to the opportunity of being educated on our judicial system.”

Lares has also worked as an interpreter for the state courts, serves as a board trustee for Mayo Health Systems and the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. She is an incoming Rotary president.

Also appointed was Mark Walbran, of Owatonna, who is a partner at Walbran and Furness. He serves as the Owatonna city attorney and practices in the areas of civil litigation, workers compensation, Social Security and municipal law.

He has been named a past president of the Minnesota City Attorneys Association.

The Commission on Judicial Selection has 49 members — 27 are appointed by the governor and 22 are appointed by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Of those 49, nine are at-large. Of the remaining 40, there are four members who are appointed to represent each of Minnesota’s 10 districts.

The nine at-large members travel the state to review and recommend vacancies in every judicial district, while the 40 other members review vacancies only in their own district.

Each member is appointed to a four-year term that ends at the conclusion of the governor’s term.