AG’s Office to expand violent crime prosecution efforts thanks to new law

A newly signed law will provide more money to the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office to help expand the office’s efforts to prosecute serious violent crimes.

Earlier this week, the Minnesota House gave final approval to the bill, which Gov. Tim Walz signed into law.

The legislation provides Attorney General Keith Ellison’s office with an extra $269,000 this year, and $2 million each year after to expand the criminal enforcement team.

Ellison says the funding will allow his office to hire seven new full-time prosecutors and two legal assistants who will provide legal services to rural county attorneys.

Since Ellison took over as the state’s top prosecutor in 2019, his office has taken on 33 cases and helped prosecute crimes in many counties around the state. However, since October, his office has gotten 47 criminal case referrals, a caseload that the office simply can’t handle currently.

The Minnesota Attorney General’s Office is generally limited to helping counties only on homicide cases. Still, Ellison says the new funding could allow the office to expand its scope to other violent crimes like attempted murders, kidnappings, assaults, robberies, and trafficking offenses.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS Reporter Tom Hauser will have more on the funding and what Ellison is saying about it during Friday night’s newscasts on KSTP.