Fred Norton was born August 19, 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He completed his baccalaureate work at Wesleyan University in 1950 and then returned to Minneapolis to earn a law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1955. From 1956 until he was elected to the legislature in 1966, Norton worked as an assistant in the office of the Minnesota attorney general. He specialized in the attorney general's department of taxation for part of that time.
Norton was elected as a DFL candidate from St. Paul's District 46A to the House of Representatives in 1966. He was reelected ten times and served in the House for a total of 20 years. His district, which was reapportioned in 1972 as district 65A, included white-collar, middle and upper class constituents living in the Ramsey-Summit Hill neighborhoods as well as blue-collar, middle and lower class constituents residing within the Frogtown community. During his tenure he sat on the Appropriations, Government Operations, Financial Institutions and Insurance, Judiciary, and Rules and Legislative Administration committees and also served on the Joint Coordinating Committee (1973-1978), the Legislative Audit Commission (1973-1984), the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources (1977-1986), the Legislative Advisory Commission (1979-1980), and the Legislative Commission on Employee Relations (1983-1986). He chaired the Appropriations Committee during 1973-1980 and 1987, chaired the committee on Governmental Operations during 1981-1984, served as Speaker of the House in 1980 and 1987, and served as minority leader during 1985-1986.
Norton was appointed to the Court of Appeals by Governor Rudy Perpich on July 1, 1987, was elected to that court in 1988, was re-elected in 1994, and retired in 1997. He died at the age of 72 of bone cancer in October 2000.
Biographical information was taken from the collection and from The Minnesota Legislative Manual .
From the guide to the Fred Norton papers., 1965-1987., (Minnesota Historical Society)
