District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands

Heather L. Kennedy has been re-appointed as Part-Time U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. She has held this appointment since 2013, and is the court’s first Magistrate Judge.  Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona re-appointed Magistrate Judge Kennedy to a new four-year term commencing June 11, 2021, after an evaluation process including public comments and review by a Merit Selection Panel.

Judge Kennedy also serves as Clerk of Court for the district. She is one of three to occupy this combined position in the federal judiciary. Judge Kennedy is a trained mediator with more than 25 years of legal experience. She presides over most of the settlement conferences in the district and handles Drug Offender Re-entry (DORE) proceedings as well as preliminary matters in criminal and civil cases. As Clerk of Court, she is the court unit executive responsible for financial administration, court operations and case management. In 2021, Judge Kennedy became the Chair of the Ninth Circuit Magistrate Judge Executive Board (MJEB). She has been a member of the MJEB since 2013 and edits its biannual newsletter. As the former Mock Trial Coordinator for the NMI Bar Association, she continues to volunteer to teach legal programs for high school students and acts as mock trial coach or judge when needed. She was a 2019 recipient of the Director’s Award for Extraordinary Actions along with the staff of the District Court for the NMI. Prior to joining the federal court, Judge Kennedy served in administrative and legal counsel positions for the NMI government focusing on mediation, employment matters, and special education. Before moving to the NMI, she worked in the civil litigation division of Lewis, Rice and Fingersh in St. Louis, Missouri and as an Assistant Public Defender in Charlotte, North Carolina. Born in New York and raised in Connecticut, she graduated from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina with a BA in English and Economics and earned her J.D. from Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Federal Magistrate Judges are authorized to perform a range of judicial functions including issuing arrest and search warrants, and presiding over preliminary criminal proceedings such as initial appearances and detention hearings. For civil cases, Magistrate Judges handle preliminary matters, including discovery and settlement conferences, as well as try and dispose of cases with consent of the parties.

Heather L. Kennedy, an attorney with more than 25 years’ experience, is a J.D. graduate of Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri.  She received a B.A. degree from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Prior to her service at the federal court, Heather served agencies of the CNMI Government, was a litigation associate in St. Louis, Missouri, and acted as an Assistant Public Defender in Charlotte, North Carolina.  She was born in New York and raised in Connecticut.