Steven McCullough was born in Moorhead, MN, on August 14, 1962, to Jim and Ceceilia McCullough. He attended West Fargo public schools and graduated from WFHS in 1980, third in his class.

While at WFHS, Steven was active in sports and choir. He earned two letters in track and field and three in football. He was awarded the Most Valuable Player award his senior year of football. He was awarded 11 medals for superior performances at the North Dakota state music contests during his high school years. Upon graduating from WFHS, Steven attended Moorhead State University. He graduated Phi Betta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude, with a major in political science and a minor in philosophy. While in college, Steven worked for two summers as an intern in the office of U.S. Congressman Byron L. Dorgan.

Upon graduating from MSU, Steven received a scholarship to and attended the University of North Dakota School of Law. He received numerous awards while at UND Law School, including awards for receiving the highest grades in Civil Procedure, Evidence, Legal History, Constitutional Law, and Commercial Transactions, as well as for outstanding performance in his first year of law school. He was a Senior Editor of the North Dakota Law Review, and graduated Order of the Coif, with Distinction, and second in his class.

While in law school, he clerked with the Ohnstad Twichell, P.C. law firm in West Fargo. He was hired by the firm upon his graduation from law school in 1987. He became a shareholder of the firm in 1993, and retained that status until he was elected a District Judge for the East Central Judicial District of North Dakota in 2004. Steven has been an active member of both his civic and legal communities throughout his professional life. He was on the Board of Directors of the West Fargo Chamber of Commerce, serving as its Chairman in 1997. He has been a member of the West Fargo Lions Club, the West Fargo Jaycees and the West Fargo Exchange Club. He was a member of the West Fargo Public Library Board of Directors, serving as its President in 2000-01. He also was a member of the West Fargo Educational Foundation, serving as its President in 1997-98, and of the West Fargo Dollars for Scholars Board of Directors, serving as its President in 2004-05. He is also a past Chair of the District 13 Dem-NPL party and a past

parliamentarian of a North Dakota State Dem-NPL convention. Steven is a past President of the Cass County Bar Association and past member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar Association of North Dakota (SBAND), serving as the President of the East Central Judicial District Bar Association of North Dakota from 1999-2004. He was also a member of the SBAND’s Ethics Committee, and was the past recipient of the SBAND’s Outstanding Volunteer Award for contributing pro bono hours.

While a lawyer, Steven’s practice was focused in three primary areas: 1) litigation, primarily in estate-related and commercial matters; 2) municipal law, representing local cities, including West Fargo, Harwood and Horace; and 3) water law, representing water resource districts and water users associations. For example, Steven was the lead counsel in the fight to obtain the permitting and land rights to build the Maple River Dam, and in the litigation between the Cities of Horace, West Fargo and Fargo concerning the annexation of areas south of Interstate Highway 94. In 2004, Steven was awarded the Steamboat Award from the Red River Water Resource District. Steven ran for, and was elected, a District Judge in 2004. He was re-elected (unopposed) in 2010 and 2016. In addition to his usual caseload, Steven started the second adult drug court in Cass County and presided over it for the first five years of his tenure as a judge. For the last ten years, he has presided over the Cass County Juvenile Drug Court.

In addition, Steven has sat several times with the North Dakota Supreme Court as a surrogate justice.

During his time on the Court, Steven has been active in the administration of the Courts. He has served (or is currently serving) on the following North Dakota Supreme Court committees:

• Judiciary Standards Committee
• Judicial Branch Education Committee (serving as its Chair in 2014-15)
• Joint Procedure Committee
• Juvenile Drug Court Advisory Committee
• Bench Book Committee
• Minority Justice Implementation Committee
• Trial Court Operations Committee (of which he is currently the chair)

In addition, Steven has served on the North Dakota Supreme Court Task Force on Abused and Neglected Children, the North Dakota Judicial Branch Newsletter Editorial Board, the North Dakota Supreme Court Administrative Council, and

presently serves on the North Dakota Supreme Court Juvenile Policy Advisory Board. He is also the current President of the North Dakota Association of Drug Court Professionals.

Since becoming a judge, Steven has also been appointed a member of the State Bar Association of North Dakota’s Task Force on Judicial Selection, the Cass County Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Project Advisory Board, and the ThinkND Behavioral Health Blue Ribbon Panel. He has also been elected by his peers to serve as the President of the North Dakota Judicial Conference. Finally, he is a past graduate of both the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education from the University of Memphis and the Henry Toll Fellowship Program from the Council of State Governments.