Court of Appeals

Source file: Minnesota — State Employee Payroll / ingested Jun 18, 2026

The Court of Appeals operates the court system — adjudicating cases and maintaining judicial records.

In 2025, this agency had 110 employees with median total compensation of $67,471; the highest distinct record was $207,396.

Year: 2025
Total payroll: $9.3M
Employees: 110
Median total: $67,471
Highest record: $207,396

What the records show

Compensation analytics

These summaries compare pay within the agency before listing individual records.

Salary distribution

$10,071$202,529+

Hover a bar for its range; click to filter the list below.

How 2025 total compensation is spread across the 110 employees. Each bar is a pay range; taller bars mean more people earn in that range. The amber line marks the median ($67,471) — half earn less, half more. The far-right bar collects the highest earners.

Average pay composition

Base — $83,425 (99%)
Overtime — $0 (0%)
Other — $927 (1%)
Benefits — $0 (0%)

What an average paycheck here is made of — base salary versus overtime, other pay (bonuses, allowances), and benefits. A large overtime or other-pay share means take-home often exceeds base salary.

Pay percentiles

10th

25th

Median

75th

90th

$14,842

$48,621

$67,471

$90,517

$202,529

The pay ladder for this department. Someone at the 90th percentile earns $202,529 — more than 90% of the department; the 10th percentile earns $14,842. The shaded band is the middle half of employees (25th–75th percentile).

Largest job titles

Jud Court of Appeals Law Clerk

68 · $62,357

Jud Court of Appeals Judge

17 · $202,529

Jud Executive Assistant

14 · $79,462

Jud Appellate Courts Attorney

6 · $147,070

Jud Court of Appeals Chief Jdg

1 · $207,396

The most common job titles in this department by headcount, with the median total compensation for each. Click a title to see everyone who holds it.

Trend

Year over year

How this department's total payroll, headcount, and median pay changed across the 2 published years.

Year	Total payroll	Employees	Median pay
2024	$9.2M —	118 —	$61,592 —
2025	$9.3M ▲ 1.3%	110 ▼ 6.8%	$67,471 ▲ 9.5%

Record list

Employees

Page 1

Michael Kunkel

Jud Appellate Courts Attorney/Court of Appeals

2025 total comp

$132,226

Sub-department: Court of Appeals
Base pay: $131,726
Overtime: $0
Other pay: $500
Benefits: $0
Total compensation: $132,226
Hire date: 2004-05-17
Employment type: Full-Time
Pay grade: 15
Union / bargaining unit: Agency Exclusion
Pay basis: Hourly
Full-time equivalent (FTE): 1
Work county: Ramsey

Source-specific fields

Active on June 30, 2025: Yes
Agency Number: J58
Bargaining Unit Number: 222
Branch: Judicial
Branch Code: Judicial
Classified Code: Unclassified
Classified Status: Unclassified
Compensation Frequency Code: Hourly

Michael Kunkel is a Jud Appellate Courts Attorney at Court of Appeals within Court of Appeals. They have served since 2004 (about 21 years), working full-time. 2025 total compensation came to $132,226. Union affiliation: Agency Exclusion.