Policy agreement between attorney offices on use of deadly force cases

June 29, 2020

Agreement Between the County Attorneys of Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington Counties on Prosecution of Police Use of Deadly Force Cases

We, the undersigned, are County Attorneys serving in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Counties of Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington. We are all members of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association and work closely on cases, policies and programs. We have been united in our approach to police use of deadly force cases. This is to memorialize our common approach to such cases should they arise in any of our jurisdictions before the legislature acts to anchor such prosecutions in the office of the Minnesota Attorney General, which action we support.

If a case arises in any of our jurisdiction of an officer using deadly force resulting in death, we will ask another prosecutor to undertake review and potentially the prosecution of the case. In essence, until the legislature acts to place these cases in the Attorney General's Office, we will not review and/or prosecute such a case arising out of our own jurisdiction. Instead, we will ask another County Attorney or Attorney General to take the case. The Administration of these cases will be handled in a manner similar to how we presently handle conflict cases among ourselves.

This agreement is in force until June 1, 2021, or until the Legislature accepts our recommendation that these cases in the future will be undertaken by the Attorney General's Office.

All of us recognize the public interest involved in transparency and swiftness in charging decisions. Therefore, we will all commit to assisting any County Attorney or Attorney General seeking such support in the aftermath of a police-involved incident.

Signed,

Anthony C. Palumbo, Anoka County Attorney

James C. Backstrom, Dakota County Attorney

Michael O. Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney

John J. Choi, Ramsey County Attorney

Peter Orput, Washington County Attorney

Dated: June 29, 2020

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