Adjunct/Affiliated Professor
Human Services Judge, Minnesota Department of Human Services
Tara Kalar is a Human Services Judge at the Minnesota Department of Human Services, which handles more than 17,000 appeals annually in 84 social service programs. She has experience in the legal offices of the Minnesota Department of Revenue working on potential legislative solutions to the opioid crisis, the Minnesota Department of Transportation bringing the state’s first autonomous shuttle to fruition, and the Minnesota Department of Human Services assisting with a class action lawsuit in federal court. For her work at the Department of Transportation determining the legalities of inspecting the state’s bridges by drone, she won the State Government Innovation Award and the Governor’s Award for Continuous Improvement in State Government. She volunteers for the FBI Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section, the ACLU, and World Without Genocide. In her free time, she practices Jiu Jitsu, bakes competitively, and gardens.
Teaching
Administrative Law, Constitutional Powers: Advanced Legal Reasoning, Environmental Law
tara.kalar @mitchellhamline.edu