Honorable Tanya M. Bransford

Judge

TANYA M. BRANSFORD began her legal career in private practice working in the areas of personal injury, criminal defense and worker’s compensation. She served as a District Court Judge in Minnesota’s Hennepin County District Court in from 1994 until her retirement in November 2023. As a trial court judge, she presided over cases in the areas of criminal, civil, juvenile, traffic and family law. Judge Bransford served as the Presiding Juvenile Court Judge from 2006 – 2008, and during her tenure, she led the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, which dramatically reduced the numbers of young people who were unnecessarily detained.

Prior to her appointment as a District Court Judge, Bransford was the first Black woman to serve as a District Court Judge. She was the first Black woman to serve as a District Court Referee in Hennepin County and the first Black woman Worker’s Compensation Judge with the Office of Administrative Hearing. Judge Bransford is a member of the board of the National Consortium of Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts and is a founding member of the Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers. She serves on the Judicial Endorsement Committee which has helped to increase the number of Black judges in the State of Minnesota. Her honors and awards include the
National Bar Association’s 2023 Thurgood Marshall Award, the Minnesota Lawyer’s Diversity and Inclusion Award, the Minneapolis Association of Black Lawyers President’s Award, and the Champions of Change Award from the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

She currently works as an adjunct professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law and as a Senior Judge as needed to cover cases for District Court Judges. Her community involvement includes service on the board of Vocal Essence. She is also a member of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Chapter of The Links Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., and Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church where she sings in the Mass Choir.

Judge Bransford is a cum laude graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and she received her law degree from Hamline University School of Law (now Mitchell Hamline School of Law). She and her husband Jeffrey Lewis are the proud parents of three adult children and four grandchildren.