From player to referee: Younggren to take on judge’s bench in Fargo

By Anna Jauhola
Community has been an important driver in Ryan Younggren’s career as an attorney.
As a criminal prosecutor, the 1993 Kittson Central graduate said remaining grounded in his family and community has helped him not get caught up in the sometimes overwhelming details of his job.
“As the years have ticked by, I’ve been grateful for the fact that I learned community in Hallock, and in the greater Kittson County community,” Younggren said. “Because you have to find a community when you live in a bigger place. You have to create a community around you.”
Growing up, Younggren enjoyed debating and performing in Ms. Evelyn Glenn’s and Mrs. Pat Mattson’s English classes. These two particularly challenged him with speech assignments and writing, and led him to enjoy reading, despite not being a fast reader. He also enjoyed his discussions in social studies and government classes with Mr. Jeff Hart. These and other activities, like team sports, led Younggren to the challenge of becoming a lawyer.
“A bit of comedy is, I remember my father at one point said, ‘Well, I think you should think about either being a lawyer or a teacher,’” Younggren said with a laugh. “I asked where that came from and he said, ‘Teachers get their summers off and they can fish. And lawyers, they get the weekends off so they can go hunting and fishing.”
He took his dad’s comedic advice to heart, and thought about how his curiosity of the world and the challenge of better communication in high pressures situations could lead to a successful career.
Younggren graduated with a degree in public administration from the University of North Dakota in 1997, where he met his wife Holly. They moved to Denver that same year so he could attend University of Denver for law school. The two were married and started their life in Denver, where Younggren practiced briefly in a private firm but soon applied and was hired at the Denver District Attorney’s office.
“We lived through a lot of amazing things while we were there. Columbine happened when we were in Colorado; Jon Benet Ramsey, Kobe Bryant had been accused of rape. So it felt like Colorado was the epicenter,” he said. “It was a very exciting time to be a lawyer and part of the legal community.”
It was also a completely different living situation from growing up in the Red River Valley. They saw open-air drug trafficking, gang activity and more. Finally, it got to the point the Younggrens looked at each other over the dinner table and knew they had to move home.
In 2007, after 10 years in Denver, the couple and their two young boys – Cody and Colton – moved to Fargo where he took a job in the Cass County State’s Attorney’s office. Most recently, he’s served as a team leader in the personal crimes division. He hit a milestone during this year’s presidential election, too – he completed his 150th criminal trial. He’s been involved in major cases over the years, notably the Savannah Greywind case.
“That one has really stuck with me the most, just because I never thought I would live to see something like that,” he said of the Fargo woman who was murdered when she was 8 months pregnant. “I’ve been on three streaming news channels and TV shows for that case. That case was really a career-defining case. They’re heavy work and they’re hard work. You have to go back to some light stuff before you can dive back in.”

After more than 17 years with the Cass County State’s Attorney’s office in Fargo, Younggren ran for election as a district judge and clinched the ballot. Prior to this year’s election, he also ran for the state’s attorney’s position, but lost by a narrow margin. Through it all, his wife and his entire extended family has been entirely supportive. Younggren walked in many parades, visited towns, held town halls and visited with thousands of people across both campaign trails, while his family helped. Pictures show his parents, Jim and Betty Younggren of Hallock, and brother Scott, also of Hallock, even joined in many of the events, along with the newest family additions – twin grandchildren, Colt and Chloe.
“There were 45,000 votes cast and I lost by 650 in that first election,” Younggren said. “It was very close, and it was really the job I thought I was going to be doing the rest of my career. But I really reassessed after that and I had a lot of good feedback.”
Several people suggested Younggren become a judge, so after much contemplation, he decided to run that campaign this past summer.
“This time I won handily,” he said.
He will take the position at the beginning of 2025 as an East-Central North Dakota district judge. He defeated Daniel Gast with 64% of the 72,000 votes cast. His district covers Cass, Traill and Steele counties in North Dakota.
“I see my biggest challenge, but also something I’m very excited about, is learning new areas of law that I haven’t practiced,” Younggren said.
He practiced briefly with a private firm in Denver and clerked for a federal magistrate there, but for most of his 24-year career, Younggren has been a criminal prosecutor. As a judge, he’ll be on the flip side, listening to the prosecution and the defense, while making decisions about family law, civil law and the criminal docket.
“I think that is going to be the steepest learning curve for me, but also the one I’m most excited about, just because it’s something new, challenging and different,” he said.
He believes his work ethic, which he learned on the farm growing up, will guide him as he sits on the bench.
As he enters this new phase of his career, Younggren often looks at the things that keep him grounded. He serves on the Fargo-Moorhead Commun-ity Theater and Rape and Abuse Crisis Center boards. He and his family volunteer at their church, for Boy Scouts and the FM Symphony. Younggren has played and coached several sports over the years, but also spent 25 years refereeing.
“Sometimes I’ve likened this role (of judge) of moving from player to referee,” Younggren said.
He realized this position is yet another way he can give back to his community, through the court system. Over the last 15 years, Younggren has been an adjunct professor at UND teaching trial advocacy. He said prosecutors spend much of their time standing up for people who don’t have a voice or have become victims.
To younger people who are thinking of becoming lawyers, Younggren said the career path is rich and diverse.
“Like anything else you can do in the world, you can let it all come to you or pass by you, or you can step in the stream of life and really take advantage of what it has to offer,” he said. “The legal field is very broad, and you can do a lot of things with a law degree. It’s just a matter of getting yourself out there and applying yourself.”