SAINT PAUL, Minn. –This evening, the Minnesota House of Representatives advanced legislation authored by Rep. John Huot (DFL – Rosemount) to provide needed legal support to prosecute violent crimes that harm Minnesotans. The bill passed on a bipartisan vote of 73-55.
“It is up to us to make sure we have working systems in place to hold offenders accountable and ensure safety for all Minnesotans,” said Rep. Huot. “With today’s bill passage, we’re one step closer to closing critical funding gaps needed to address and prosecute violent crime.”
In Minnesota, criminal prosecution is delegated to the city and county attorneys except in specific federal cases which are expressly delegated to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG). Under current state law, the OAG can only appear in criminal cases “upon the request of the county attorney.” Small county attorneys’ offices in greater Minnesota often lack the capacity to take on complex cases and the OAG currently has insufficient resources to meet the needs of those counties.
"The final passage of this bill is a long time coming,” said Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. “It is a yes to county attorneys, communities, and victims who need justice and closure. It’s a yes to the people of Minnesota. I’m very grateful to Representative Huot and Senator Murphy for authoring the bill, to Speaker Hortman, Majority Leader Long, and Majority Leader Dziedzic for making a priority of it, to Governor Walz for his steadfast support for the last four years, and above all to county attorneys for the trust they place in us and the partnership we’ve built together. With these resources, I’m looking forward to greatly expanding our partnership and helping them bring more justice to our communities."
Since October 2022, there have been 47 criminal cases referred to the OAG. Since Attorney General Ellison took office in 2019, the office has taken on 33 cases, and secured 26 convictions without losing a single case. The Attorney General’s Office has prosecuted homicides, serious criminal sexual conduct, or other crimes in Aitkin, Becker, Beltrami, Big Stone, Carlton, Chippewa, Clearwater, Cook, Cottonwood, Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Grant, Hennepin, Houston, Jackson, Kanabec, Le Sueur, Morrison, Pennington, Pope, Ramsey, Red Lake, Renville, Roseau, Todd, Traverse, and Wilkin counties.
Currently, the OAG is generally limited to providing county-level support in homicide cases. However, with additional funding they could expand their scope to include: non-homicide violent crimes like attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, sexual assault, robbery, and burglary; human trafficking/sex trafficking; complicated white-collar theft; criminal vehicular homicide/operation; multi-jurisdictional cases where criminal conduct occurs, or when victims reside in multiple counties.
On January 28, the Minnesota Senate passed companion bill SF 33, authored by Sen. Erin Murphy, also on a bipartisan vote. The bill now goes to Governor Tim Walz, a strong supporter of this request, for his signature.
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