East Central Judicial District Court Presiding Judge Steven E. McCullough has announced he will retire November 1, 2026.
In a letter dated August 3, 2026 to Chief Justice Lisa Fair McEvers, Governor Kelly Armstrong noted that Judge McCullough had notified him on July 31, 2026 of his intent to retire on November 1, 2026.
Judge McCullough, a native of West Fargo, North Dakota, was born in 1962. He graduated from West Fargo High School and earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1987 and was admitted to the North Dakota Bar on October 6, 1987.
He practiced law in the private sector from 1987 until his election to the bench in 2004.
View Governor Armstrong's letter here: Download
