Judge Renee Worke Biography, Wiki, Age, Salary, Political Party

Renee Worke Biography – Renee Worke Wiki

Renee L. Worke is a judge for the Minnesota Appeals Court. She was appointed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals on June 9, 2005 by then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty (Republican Party). She was elected in 2006, and re-elected in 2012.

Before her time on the Court of Appeals, Judge Worke was appointed on Nov. 8, 1996 to the Third Judicial District Court, Waseca County. She was elected in 1998, and re-elected in 2004.

Judge Worke was previously a partner at Rietz, Rietz, Rietz & Worke in Owatonna, MN. She also served as an assistant public defender for the third judicial district and as an administrative law judge for the child support division and the office of administrative hearings. She started her career as a law clerk for district court Judge Urban J. Steimann in Faribault, MN.

Judge Worke is a graduate of the Minnesota State University Mankato (Magna Cum Laude), and the William Mitchell College of Law. She was a Humphrey Institute Policy Fellow at the University of Minnesota. She also attended the Institute for Faculty Excellence in Judicial Education, University of Memphis.

Judge Worke has achieved numerous honors including Minnesota State University, Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award; Ann Bancroft Foundation, Women Leader Award; Woman of Achievement, Owatonna Business & Professional Women’s Organization; and Recipient of the Rosalie E. Wahl Judicial Award of Excellence, Minnesota State Bar Association.

Renee Worke Age

Judge Renee Lee Worke was born in 1958.

Renee Worke Salary

Judge Renee Worke receives an annual salary of $202,528.

Arrest

In December 2025, Minnesota Court of Appeals judge Renee L. Worke was charged with drunken-driving after she crashed her vehicle into a snowbank. According to charges filed in Steele County, she struck a snowbank on eastbound Highway 14 at the I-35 overpass in Owatonna at around 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 29.

A deputy arriving at the scene found Worke had “glossy” eyes and was slurring her speech, the complaint states. She told police she was traveling back from visiting friends in Waseca, and allegedly said she had one glass of wine two hours earlier.

A deputy claims that Worke had “bloodshot” eyes and her breath had an odor of alcohol. When she exited the vehicle, deputies claim she had unsteady balance and “required assistance while walking back to the squad car.”

She was taken to the Steele County Detention Center to carry out sobriety testing and gave a breath sample, which showed an alcohol concentration of 0.16, twice Minnesota’s legal limit of 0.08. Worke is facing two DWI charges, Bring Me The News reported.

Renee Worke Political Party

She is nonpartisan.