Phil Carruthers (born December 8, 1953) is an American judge and former

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

politician and former member and Speaker of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

. He is also the former director of the Civil Division at the Ramsey County Attorney's Office. On September 14, 2011, Governor

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...

appointed Carruthers as a judge to the Minnesota Fourth District Court. Carruthers came to Minnesota in 1961 with his parents, who were Canadian citizens. He graduated from St. Anthony Village High School and the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

before attending the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, a public university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Pa ...

. He worked for several years as an attorney before seeking public office. He also served on the Metropolitan Council from 1983 to 1986. He won election to the House in 1986 from

Brooklyn Center Brooklyn Center is a first-ring suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1911, the area became a village formed from parts of Brooklyn Township and Crystal Lake Townshi ...

, representing District 47B, which included portions of

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,281,565, and was estimated to be 1,273,334 in 2024, making it the List of counties in ...

. He also maintained a private practice and served as prosecutor for the city of Shorewood during this same time period. While in the House, Carruthers served as chair of the Metropolitan Affairs Subcommittee on Government Structure, the Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs Subcommittee on Metro Affairs, the Judiciary Subcommittee on Data Privacy, the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee, and the Rules and Legislative Administration Subcommittee on Administration. In 1993, Carruthers was chosen to be Majority Leader when Irv Anderson became Speaker. He served as majority leader during the next two legislative sessions and became chair of the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee. When Anderson stepped down from the House leadership in 1997, Carruthers succeeded him as Speaker. He remained in that position until 1999, when the DFL majority was defeated by the Republican Party, and Steve Sviggum succeeded him as Speaker. He served one more term in the House before retiring in 2001.

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Dayton appoints former House speaker as judge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carruthers, Phil Minnesota state court judges Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 1953 births Living people University of Minnesota Law School alumni People from Shorewood, Minnesota People from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature