Press Release: 10/15/2026

Governor Healey Nominates Kristen Varsames Tyson and Michael Callanan to District Court

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

10/14/2026

BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey today nominated Kristen Varsames Tyson and Michael Callanan to serve as Associate Justices of the District Court. Both nominees will now be considered by the Governor’s Council for confirmation.

 “Kristen Tyson and Michael Callanan bring decades of courtroom experience and a strong commitment to upholding the law,” said Governor Maura Healey. “They have dedicated their careers to public service and ensuring that people are treated fairly in our justice system. I am confident they will bring the experience, integrity and compassion needed to serve on the District Court.”

 “Kristen and Michael are highly qualified attorneys who will bring valuable experience and perspectives to the bench,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “I look forward to working with the Governor’s Council to advance their nominations.”

The District Court Department hears a wide range of criminal, civil, housing, juvenile, mental health, and other cases. Its criminal jurisdiction includes all misdemeanors, violations of municipal ordinances and bylaws, and felonies punishable by up to five years in prison, as well as certain other felonies carrying longer potential sentences. In civil matters, the District Court hears cases involving damages generally not exceeding $50,000, as well as small claims cases up to $7,000. The District Court is located in 62 courts across the state.

Governor Healey has already nominated 36 attorneys to the District Court: Heath Antonio, Kristen Bonavita, Patrick Burke, Tonomey Coleman, Lisa Core, Frances Dallmeyer, Frederick DeCubellis, Brian Doxtader, Mark Fabiano, Leo Fama,  Lauren Greene, Stuart Hurowitz, Paul Anthony, Edward Kacasinas, Francis V. Kenneally, Sarah Kennedy, Edward Jr. Krippendorf, Cara Krysil, Courtney C. Linnehan, Hilary McCamic, Suzanne McDonough, Shelly-Ann Sankar, Becky Michaels, Craig Mulcahey, Jerry Parisella, Georgia Petropoulos, Polly Phillips, William Powers, Joanna Rodriguez, Thomas Johnson, Gegory Teran, Marjorie P. Tynes, Amanda Ward, Raquel Webster, Liza Williamson, and Hector Zumbado. 

For more information about the District Court, visit its homepage.

About the Nominees:

Michael Callanan is an experienced trial attorney who has litigated criminal cases in courts across the Commonwealth for over two decades. For the past 18 years, he has operated a private practice in Dedham focused on criminal defense, representing clients in the District, Boston Municipal, Superior, and U.S. District Courts.  He has also counseled clients during grand jury investigations and in administrative hearings. He has tried over 100 cases to verdict and has served as a Bar Advocate through Suffolk Lawyers for Justice for more than a decade. From 2015 to 2017, he also served as a Special Assistant District Attorney in Norfolk County, handling conflict cases for the Norfolk District Attorney’s Office. Prior to opening his practice, Attorney Callanan served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Special Investigation and Narcotics Division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, where he investigated and prosecuted complex drug and organized crime cases. Before joining the Attorney General’s Office, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Essex County District Attorney’s Office, where he handled gang-related prosecutions, supervised the Lynn Gun Court, and served on the Superior Court Trial Team. Attorney Callanan holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from Fairfield University and a Juris Doctor from Suffolk University Law School.

Kristen Varsames Tysonis a trial attorney in the Lowell Public Defender’s Division of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, where she represents clients in the Middlesex County District and Superior Courts. Prior to joining CPCS in April 2026, she spent more than eight years as a Bar Advocate in Middlesex County, representing hundreds of clients, primarily indigent, from arraignment through trial, in the Lowell, Concord, and other Middlesex County District Courts. From 2003 to 2007, Attorney Tyson served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, where she was Chief of the office’s Chelsea District Court unit, managing roughly 3,000 cases a year and supervising a team of attorneys and staff. She also prosecuted child abuse cases in Superior Court as a member of the office’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau. Prior to joining the District Attorney’s Office, she served as a judicial clerk for Judge Jerome Niedermeier of the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont and Chief Justice Jeffrey Amestoy of the Vermont Supreme Court. From 1995-1997 Attorney Tyson worked as a Legislative Correspondent for Senator James Jeffords of Vermont.  Attorney Tyson received the 2025 Commonwealth Heroine Award from the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women. She holds a Bachelor of Science, cum laude, from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and a Juris Doctor from Boston College Law School.

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