# Carver County Sheriff's Office *Sheriff's office of Carver County, Minnesota* The Carver County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) is the county-level law-enforcement agency of [[Carver County, Minnesota]], headquartered in the Carver County Government Center in [[Chaska]], the county seat.[^1] It was established on March 5, 1855, in [[Minnesota Territory]], thirteen days after the county itself was created on February 20, 1855. Wikipedia's list of office holders shows Jason Kamerud as sheriff from 2019.[^1] The office's one documented civil-rights action is private litigation. On March 5, 2025, the [[ACLU of Minnesota]] filed *Suarez Varela v. Carver County Sheriff's Office*, naming Sheriff Kamerud. The complaint challenges the continued jailing of a man on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer request after his $10,000 bail had been posted.[^2][^3] CBS News Minnesota reported that the case settled on June 26, 2026. It also reported that the terms, the dollar amount and any required policy changes were not made public.[^4] The project's searches of federal and state enforcement records found no action of the kind brought against other Minnesota agencies. They located no U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division matter, pattern-or-practice investigation, findings letter or federal [[consent decree]] concerning the office. They identified no [[POST Board]] discipline of a Carver County officer and found no Carver County jail death.[^5][^6][^7][^8] For that reason the record places the office in its control-group block. ## Who The first sheriff, Levi Griffin (1822–1902), was appointed in 1855 by Territorial Governor [[Willis A. Gorman]]. Every sheriff since has been chosen by election.[^1] Wikipedia counts 19 county residents as having held the post. Its own table lists 19 terms served by 16 individuals, because Ezekiel Ellsworth, Frederick Greiner and Frederick Hecklin each served two separate terms. The longest tenures in the table are Frederick E. DuToit (1874–1895) and Lester Melchert (1947–1973).[^1] Kamerud had served as the office's chief deputy before he won the 2018 election with 51 percent of the vote.[^1] He is the sheriff named as defendant in the 2025 detainer complaint.[^2] ## What **Incident responses.** On April 21, 2016, CCSO deputies were the first to arrive at Paisley Park in Chanhassen after Prince's fentanyl overdose.[^1] The office keeps a public archive of its Prince investigation. The archive holds the incident report of April 21, 2016, the 911 transcript, the warrant orders of April 28, 2016, and the [[medical examiner]]'s release of June 2, 2016. It also holds the [[Carver County Attorney's Office]] press release of April 18, 2018.[^9] The office was among the first agencies on scene on August 7, 2021, when a single-engine Mooney M20M aircraft came down in a yard in Victoria and hit a house.[^1] On May 4, 2024, two deputies answering a reported domestic dispute shot a man who was armed with a knife. Both deputies then went on critical incident leave.[^1] In 2025, CCSO deputies joined the Sibley County Sheriff's Office, the [[Minnesota State Patrol]] and the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] in the Green Isle search for the suspect in the shootings of Minnesota legislators. Wikipedia calls it the largest manhunt in the state's history.[^1] **Immigration detainers.** Two documented outputs concern the office's dealings with federal immigration enforcement. The first is the ACLU's March 2025 complaint. It alleges that the jail kept the plaintiff in custody on an ICE detainer request, which is not a judicial warrant, after the [[Minnesota Freedom Fund]] posted his bail. It asserts claims under the Fourth Amendment and the Minnesota Constitution.[^2][^3] The second is the office's own statement ten months later. In January 2026, by Wikipedia's account, the office said it would not enter an agreement with ICE to house immigrant detainees at the Carver County Jail, and it gave the jail's limited capacity as the reason.[^1] The record does not establish whether the June 2026 settlement required any change to detainer practice, because its terms were not released.[^4] ## When - February 20, 1855: Carver County created. March 5, 1855: sheriff's office founded.[^1] - April 21, 2016: deputies respond at Paisley Park.[^1][^9] - May 4, 2024: deputy-involved shooting.[^1] - February 13, 2025: the Minnesota Freedom Fund posts $10,000 bail.[^2] - March 5, 2025: *Suarez Varela* complaint filed.[^2][^3] - January 2026: the office declines an ICE detainee-housing agreement, per Wikipedia.[^1] - June 26, 2026: settlement reported.[^4] ## Where The office is based at the Government Center in Chaska.[^1] When the county was first organized, its temporary seat was in [[San Francisco Township]], and its court cases were heard in Hennepin County.[^1] The Census Bureau estimated the county's population at 114,379 as of July 1, 2025. That is 7.0 percent above the 2020 census count of 106,922.[^10] ## How much - $10,000: the bail posted in the detainee's case.[^2] - Settlement amount: not disclosed.[^4] ## How many - Three CCSO deputies have died in the line of duty, according to Wikipedia. Two were struck together by a train at the Zemble Street crossing in Chaska. The third had a heart attack while trying to stop a speeding vehicle between Hamburg and Gotha.[^1] - 36: the number of statewide police disciplinary actions in 2025, as reported by MN Crime. The project identified no Carver County officer among them in accessible reporting.[^8] The fraud-enforcement record for the county, which the project sets beside the office's record, consists of federal prosecutions. In that record, one [[Feeding Our Future]] defendant has a Carver County address: Mohamed Muse Noor of Chaska. On January 30, 2025, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, his sites obtained about $1.3 million and he personally kept about $52,388. The office said this rested on "fake meal counts and fabricated invoices falsely claiming to be feeding supper and snack to 1,500 children every day".[^11][^12] The project reviewed the following records and found no Carver County address or defendant in any of them: - the cities listed for the 47 defendants charged in September 2022;[^13] - the first-wave [[Housing Stabilization Services]] charges of September 2025 (8 defendants);[^14] - the later round of six additional defendants;[^15] - the May 21, 2026 Minnesota health care fraud takedown (15 defendants, over $90 million).[^16] The project also searched three reports for "Carver" and all eleven Carver County city names. It found none of those names in: - the [[House Oversight]] report *The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion* (March 4, 2026);[^17] - the committee majority staff's *MN Fraud Final Staff Report* (June 8, 2026);[^18] - the [[Office of the Legislative Auditor (Minnesota)]] June 2024 special review *MDE: Oversight of Feeding Our Future*.[^19] ## In the at-issue record Pair AI-Carver-096 (rank 96) sets the June 26, 2026 settlement beside a March 2025 White House presidential action on stopping waste, fraud and abuse by eliminating information silos.[^4][^20] The pair's stated rationale is the project's own: a resolution with undisclosed terms produces no precedent and no public standard. The pair rests on a single news source, and the pack contains no court filing of the settlement.[^4] Pair AI-Carver-097 (rank 97) records the null results set out above: no DOJ pattern-or-practice investigation, no federal consent decree, no identified POST Board discipline of a Carver County officer and no located jail death. It pairs them with a March 2026 presidential action establishing a task force to eliminate fraud.[^5][^7][^8][^21] These are negative-search findings stated as of the dossier date of September 2, 2026. They establish what the project did not locate, not that no such record exists.[^5][^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Carver County Sheriff's Office* (revision 1365750506, retrieved Oct. 27, 2026) — founding dates, headquarters, list of sheriffs, line-of-duty deaths, incidents, January 2026 ICE announcement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carver_County_Sheriff's_Office [^2]: ACLU of Minnesota, *press release on Suarez Varela v. Carver County Sheriff's Office* (Mar. 5, 2025) — complaint naming Sheriff Kamerud; Fourth Amendment and state constitutional claims over detention on an ICE detainer request after $10,000 bail posted Feb. 13, 2025 by the Minnesota Freedom Fund; allegations. https://www.aclu-mn.org/press-releases/carver-ice/ [^3]: CBS News Minnesota, *Carver County Sheriff's Office ICE lawsuit (ACLU)* (2025) — report of the ACLU suit against the office. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/carver-county-sheriffs-office-ice-lawsuit-aclu/ [^4]: CBS News Minnesota, *Carver County ICE lawsuit settlement* (June 26, 2026) — settlement reported; terms, dollar amount and policy changes not made public. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/carver-county-ice-lawsuit-unlawful-settlement/ [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Civil Rights Division* (searched 2026) — no Civil Rights Division matter, pattern-or-practice investigation, findings letter or consent decree concerning Carver County located. https://www.justice.gov/crt [^6]: Carver County, *County Sheriff* (official page, searched 2026) — agency page among those searched for the negative-result findings. https://www.carvercountymn.gov/government/county-sheriff [^7]: Carver County Sheriff's Office, *Daily Inmate Roster* (searched 2026) — jail page searched; no Carver County jail death located. https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-sheriff/jail-services/daily-inmate-roster [^8]: MN Crime, *Records detail 36 police disciplinary actions in 2025* (2025) — statewide 2025 total of 36 disciplinary actions; no Carver County officer identified. https://www.mncrime.com/latest/records-detail-36-police-disciplinary-actions-in-2025 [^9]: Carver County Sheriff's Office, *Prince Investigation* (document archive) — incident report of Apr. 21, 2016; 911 transcript; warrant orders of Apr. 28, 2016; medical examiner release of June 2, 2016; County Attorney press release of Apr. 18, 2018. https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-sheriff/general-information/prince-investigation [^10]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Carver County, Minnesota* (V2025) — population 114,379 (July 1, 2025); 106,922 (2020 census); +7.0%. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/carvercountyminnesota/PST045224 [^11]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Chaska Man Pleads Guilty for His Role in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme* (Jan. 30, 2025) — Noor's plea, charge, $1.3 million, $52,388, quoted meal-count language. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/chaska-man-pleads-guilty-his-role-250-million-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme [^12]: Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, *Chaska man pleads guilty for his role in $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme* (2025) — IRS-CI republication of the plea announcement. https://irs.gov/zh-hans/compliance/criminal-investigation/chaska-man-pleads-guilty-for-his-role-in-250-million-feeding-our-future-fraud-scheme [^13]: U.S. Department of Justice, *U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 47 Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud Scheme* (Sept. 2022) — 47 defendant cities enumerated; no Carver County address. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/us-attorney-announces-federal-charges-against-47-defendants-250-million-feeding-our-future [^14]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Defendants charged in first wave of Housing Stabilization fraud cases* (Sept. 2025) — 8 defendants; no Carver County defendant located. https://justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/defendants-charged-first-wave-housing-stabilization-fraud-cases [^15]: U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota, *Six additional defendants charged, one defendant pleads guilty in ongoing fraud schemes* — no Carver County defendant located. https://www.justice.gov/usao-mn/pr/six-additional-defendants-charged-one-defendant-pleads-guilty-ongoing-fraud-schemes [^16]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Minnesota health care fraud takedown results in charges against 15 defendants for over $90M fraud* (May 21, 2026) — 15 defendants; no Carver County defendant located. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/minnesota-health-care-fraud-takedown-results-charges-against-15-defendants-over-90m-fraud [^17]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight, *The Cost of Doing Nothing: How Tim Walz and Keith Ellison Fueled Minnesota's Fraud Explosion* (Mar. 4, 2026) — searched for Carver and all eleven county city names; none found. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/The-Cost-of-Doing-Nothing_How-Tim-Walz-and-Keith-Ellison-Fueled-Minnesotas-Fraud-Explosion_3.4.26_FINAL.pdf [^18]: U.S. House Committee on Oversight, Majority Staff, *MN Fraud Final Staff Report* (June 8, 2026) — searched for Carver and all eleven county city names; none found. https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MN-Fraud-Final-Staff-Report.pdf [^19]: Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, *MDE: Oversight of Feeding Our Future* (June 2024) — special review searched for all eleven Carver County city names; none found. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/sreview/pdf/2024-mdefof.pdf [^20]: The White House, *presidential action on stopping waste, fraud, and abuse by eliminating information silos* (Mar. 2025) — anchor of at-issue pair AI-Carver-096. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^21]: The White House, *presidential action establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (Mar. 2026) — anchor of at-issue pair AI-Carver-097. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/