Julianne Ortman graduated from Macalaster College in Saint Paul in 1986 with concentrations in English and History. She earned her law degree in 1989 from The University of Pennsylvania Law School. She is licensed to practice law in Minnesota, Virginia, and the District of Columbia, and has been practicing law since 1989.

Elected in 2002 as a State Senator, Julianne currently represents the ten cities and eleven townships comprising District 34 (Carver and northwestern Scott Counties.) She has served as a member of the Judiciary, Transportation Policy and Finance, Tax, Crime Prevention, Public Safety Finance, Economic Development and Elections Committees. Particular areas of focus have been on financing the $268 million realignment of U.S. Highway 212; tax credits for education and referendum election reform; CriMNet implementation, financing, and data privacy issues; class action reforms; amber alert immunity; and reforming drug sentencing options to include early release in conjunction with treatment.

Prior to serving in the Senate, Julianne served as a Carver County Commissioner. Her contributions included: resolutions to broadcast Board proceedings, bonding for long-term capital investments, and adopting and publishing the Carver County Code of Ordinances.

From 1994 to 2006, Julianne was managing partner at Ortman & Associates, PLC, and has practiced law since 1989 (as a member of the bar in Minnesota, Virginia and the District of Columbia). Cases of interest include: defamation lawsuit against local newspapers in Carver County District Court; trial of real property disputes in Carver County District Court; licensing, contract and choice of law issues on appeal to the U.S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit; consumer fraud and business dispute trial in U.S. District Court (D.Minn); Appeal to South Dakota Supreme Court from summary judgment on claims of trade secrets and fraud; defense of business practices in Minnesota Attorney General Investigation; trial of employment law issues in Hennepin County District Court, and Minnesota Court of Appeals; petition for land registration proceedings in Wright County District Court; and equal credit opportunity/consumer law issues in U.S. District Court (D.Minn) and the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Since April 2007, Julianne has served as the Director of Finance for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.

Julianne has served as a member of the faculty for various CLE courses presented by Westlaw and the Minnesota State Bar Association on topics ranging from data privacy, to legislation for lawyers, to gender bias in the legal profession. From 2003 to 2006 Julianne has been a recurring guest on TPT 2’s “Almanac Freshman Panel,” and has been a guest speaker at the Minnesota District Judges Conference, Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, Metro Inner-County Association, Building Owners and Managers Association, Builders Association of Minnesota, Minnesota Trucking Association, and many others.

An avid runner, Julianne has run in (and finished) four marathons (including the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth).  She is planning to run every year until she turns 50 (at least)! She lives in the beautiful city of Chanhassen with her husband and four children.