Judge Karen Kaufman Salic was appointed to the bench in 2013. She earned her undergraduate degree from Buena Vista College in 1998) and her law degree from Southern Methodist University in 1998. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Salic was in private practice in Clear Lake from 1998 to 2000, an assistant county attorney in Hancock and Kossuth Counties from 2000-2001, and Hancock County Attorney from 2001 to 2013.