# Dakota County Board *Governing body of Dakota County, Minnesota.* The Dakota County Board is the governing body of Dakota County, [[Minnesota]]. On December 16, 2025, it adopted a 2026 levy of $184 million, a 9.9 percent increase over the prior year. It also adopted a $383 million operating budget, or $527 million including capital.[^1] The Board's account of that vote placed the pressure outside its own hands. Board Chair Mike Slavik said: "This was a challenge that we all faced due to many things that were out of our control." The at-issue record, drawing on local news and the county's own materials, states that roughly 70 percent of the operating budget is unfunded mandates.[^1] The same vote raised the levy by 9.9 percent, cut $8.8 million, and eliminated more than 44 full-time positions.[^1] The Minnesota record also holds Minnesota Department of Corrections inspection reports on the Dakota County Jail from July 2023 and June 2025.[^2][^3] It holds an audited financial and single-audit report for the Dakota County CDA for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.[^4] ## Who Mike Slavik was Board Chair when the 2026 levy and budget were adopted.[^1] The record in this pack does not list the Board's other members or their party affiliations. ## What The Board adopted the county's 2026 levy and its 2026 operating and capital budgets.[^1] The adopted budget included $8.8 million in cuts and the elimination of more than 44 full-time positions.[^1] ## When The Board adopted the levy and budget on December 16, 2025.[^1] ## How much - 2026 levy: $184 million, an increase of 9.9 percent.[^1] - 2026 operating budget: $383 million; total including capital: $527 million.[^1] - Budget reductions: $8.8 million.[^1] - Share of the operating budget described as unfunded mandates: roughly 70 percent, as stated in the at-issue record.[^1] ## How many The adopted budget eliminated more than 44 full-time positions.[^1] ## In the at-issue record The at-issue entry places the Board's own explanation beside its adopted figures. The Chair attributed the budget to conditions "out of our control," and the entry records roughly 70 percent of the operating budget as unfunded mandates. The adopted outputs were a 9.9 percent levy increase, $8.8 million in cuts, and more than 44 full-time positions eliminated.[^1] The entry's federal anchor is a March 2025 White House presidential action, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse*. The entry pairs that action with the county's statement that most of its operating budget is mandated.[^5] The record does not establish which mandates make up the 70 percent, which level of government imposes each one, or how the federal action applies to them.[^1][^5] ## In the Minnesota record ### What - The Minnesota Department of Corrections inspected the Dakota County Jail in July 2023.[^2] It inspected the jail again in June 2025.[^3] The inspection reports are classed in the project's Dakota County matrix as audit findings. - The Dakota County CDA issued an *Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and Single Audit Report* for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2025.[^4] - A complaint filed in July 2024 alleges medical neglect at the Dakota County jail, as reported by the *Star Tribune*. The pack does not record the case's docket or current status.[^6] ### Who - On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] announced a lawsuit against the State of Minnesota in release No. 26-21. The release is titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^7] The record here does not show that the action names Dakota County or its Board. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record, entry AI-Dakota-078, *Dakota County 2026 levy and budget* (Dec. 16, 2025), drawing on the Cannon Falls Beacon (news) and Dakota County (self-published, dakotacountymn.gov) — the levy, budget, cuts, positions, mandate share, and the Board Chair's quotation. [^2]: Minnesota Department of Corrections, *Dakota County Jail inspection report* (July 2023) — DOC inspection of the Dakota County Jail. https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Dakota%20County%20Jail%202023_tcm1089-611871.pdf [^3]: Minnesota Department of Corrections, *Dakota County Jail inspection report* (June 2025) — DOC inspection of the Dakota County Jail. https://mn.gov/doc/assets/Dakota%202025_tcm1089-696976.pdf [^4]: Dakota County CDA, *Annual Comprehensive Financial Report and Single Audit Report for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2025* (2025) — audited financial report. https://www.dakotacda.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Dakota-County-CDA-Annual-Comprehensive-Finance-Report-And-Single-Audit-Report-For-The-Fiscal-Year-Ended-June-30-2025.pdf [^5]: The White House, *Protecting America's Bank Account Against Fraud, Waste, and Abuse* (Mar. 2025) — the federal anchor cited in at-issue entry AI-Dakota-078. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/protecting-americas-bank-account-against-fraud-waste-and-abuse/ [^6]: *Star Tribune*, report on the Dakota County jail medical-neglect lawsuit (July 2024) — the filing of the complaint and what it alleges. https://www.startribune.com/lawsuit-man-in-crisis-left-unresponsive-covered-in-blood-and-feces-in-dakota-county-jail/600381734 [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — the lawsuit's announcement and the Attorney General's certification. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime