A long-serving Greene County judge recently passed away and one elected official is commenting on his working relationship with the dedicated public servant.

Greene County Attorney Thomas Laehn tells Raccoon Valley Radio, retired District Court Judge William Ostlund passed away from cancer on January 29th. Ostlund was a judge for 24 years in District Court 2B, and before that spent 11 years as a magistrate judge. Laehn says Ostlund handled juvenile court cases, along with criminal and civil cases. 

Laehn was Judge Ostlund’s summer intern in 2016, while finishing his law degree from the University of Iowa. His duties included assisting Ostlund with writing judicial opinions and jury instructions. Laehn recalls one specific civil case he helped Ostlund with in Story County.

“It was a great experience for me at that time as a law student to see the inner workings of the judicial system. It’s assisted me as county attorney, now I know what judges look for, what arguments they find persuasive, what arguments they don’t find persuasive, (and) what they expect from attorneys that appear before them. I learned that first-hand working for Judge Ostlund that summer.” 

Laehn points out even when he prosecuted cases as then Assistant Greene County Attorney and during his first year as county attorney, it was always with respect he learned from Ostlund.

“He was a very fair judge with a great deal of wisdom, some of which was innate and some of which came with 24 years of experience on the bench. And (he) was beloved by attorneys and other judges.”

Ostlund was 72-years-old. Funeral services are pending with the Brown Funeral Home in Jefferson.