# Department of Human Rights *Minnesota state agency, established 1967, that enforces the Minnesota Human Rights Act.* The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) is the state agency that enforces the [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]].[^1][^2] It was created by Laws 1967, ch. 897. Governor LeVander, a Republican, approved that chapter on May 25, 1967, the same day he approved ch. 896, which created the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]].[^3] The founding text makes the commissioner serve "at the pleasure of the governor for a four-year term, which shall coincide with the term of the governor."[^3] The agency's main documented output in this record is its investigation of the [[City of Minneapolis]] and the [[Minneapolis Police Department]] (MPD). The investigation began with a charge filed on June 1, 2020, and produced a probable-cause finding on April 27, 2022.[^2][^4] It led to a court-enforceable settlement agreement filed in Hennepin County District Court on July 13, 2023, which remains open.[^5][^6] A parallel federal [[consent decree]] was dismissed with prejudice in May 2025. The presiding judge called that decree "superfluous" given the City's existing settlement with MDHR.[^7] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] announced a lawsuit against the State in release No. 26-21. The release is titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime*.[^8] ## Who - The commissioner serves "at the pleasure of the governor," under the founding text of ch. 897.[^3] - Ch. 896 and ch. 897 were approved by Governor LeVander, a Republican, on May 25, 1967.[^3] - In the 2026 federal case, Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the matter as one of general public importance.[^8] - In *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, Judge [[Paul A. Magnuson]] dismissed the federal consent-decree case.[^7] - The record here does not name the agency's commissioners. It also does not show which later legislatures or governors amended ch. 897, maintained it, or declined to repeal it. ## What ### Minneapolis investigation - MDHR filed a charge against the City of Minneapolis and the MPD on June 1, 2020.[^2] The agency maintains a public page for its civil rights investigation into the MPD.[^4] - On April 27, 2022, MDHR found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act."[^2] - The finding was followed by *[[Minnesota Department of Human Rights v. City of Minneapolis (court-enforceable settlement agreement)]]*, No. 27-CV-23-4177. That case was filed in Hennepin County District Court on July 13, 2023.[^5][^6] ### Other enforcement - MDHR reached a settlement and finding on July 14, 2022, as reported by Bring Me The News. The agency found that a [[St. Cloud]] printing company had permitted a racially hostile work environment against a Black employee and his son during 2018–2019. According to the report, the conduct included racial slurs and management's dismissal of complaints, and the settlement carried two years of MDHR compliance monitoring.[^9] - The [[Minnesota Historical Society]]'s MNopedia entry on the [[Stillwater]] state prison describes three related events: a 1969 solitary-confinement and tear-gas episode, a suit by the Department of Human Rights, and a 1970 decision limiting the department's oversight authority.[^10] ### Federal actions - The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division issued a findings report on the City of Minneapolis and the MPD in June 2023.[^11] - *[[United States v. City of Minneapolis, 0:25-cv-00048]]* (D. Minn.) proceeded as follows:[^7][^11] - January 6, 2025: a federal consent decree was filed and approved by the City. - May 21, 2025: the Justice Department moved to dismiss. - May 27, 2025: Judge Magnuson dismissed the case with prejudice and denied the joint motion to approve the decree as moot. - In dismissing the case, the court questioned whether the suit presented a case or controversy. It called the decree "superfluous" given the City's settlement with MDHR, under which the reforms continue.[^7] - Release No. 26-21 announces the 2026 suit under the title quoted above.[^8] The project's validated master record describes MDHR as "the enforcement agency through which the modern federal actions run."[^3] - The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds that no other U.S. state has been so described. That is the project's catalogue finding, not an independently established fact.[^8] - The record here does not carry the 2026 complaint's text, docket number, or current status. It therefore does not establish what the complaint alleges about MDHR specifically. ## When - May 25, 1967: Laws 1967, ch. 896 and ch. 897 approved.[^3] - June 1, 2020: charge filed against the City of Minneapolis and the MPD.[^2] - April 27, 2022: probable-cause finding issued.[^2] - July 14, 2022: St. Cloud printing-company settlement reached.[^9] - July 13, 2023: settlement agreement filed, No. 27-CV-23-4177.[^5][^6] - March 18, 2024: independent evaluator begins service.[^6] - January 6, 2025: federal consent decree filed.[^7] - May 21, 2025: Justice Department moves to dismiss the federal case.[^7] - May 27, 2025: federal case dismissed with prejudice.[^7] - January 14, 2026: DOJ release No. 26-21 issued.[^8] ## Where - [[Minneapolis]]: the city and police department named in the 2020 charge and the 2022 finding.[^2] - Hennepin County District Court: forum of the 2023 settlement agreement.[^6] - U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota: forum of the dismissed federal case.[^7] - St. Cloud: the 2022 printing-company settlement.[^9] - Stillwater: the state prison named in the 1969–1970 events.[^10] ## How - The settlement agreement rests on two instruments: the Minnesota Human Rights Act and MDHR's April 27, 2022 probable-cause finding.[^5] - The agreement ends only on a judicial finding of full, effective and sustained compliance.[^6] - ELEFA has served as [[independent evaluator]] of the City's compliance since March 18, 2024.[^6] ## How many - The agency found that 13 of the 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous.[^2] - The agency also found that Black residents were 19% of the city's population. Over 2010–2020, they accounted for 63% of recorded use-of-force incidents and 54% of officer-initiated traffic stops.[^2] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record (item 26) carries the April 2022 finding that 13 of 14 people killed by Minneapolis police officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous. It identifies this as a state agency finding under the Minnesota Human Rights Act.[^2] The item is anchored to a March 2025 White House presidential action.[^12] The documented sequence is as follows. The federal consent-decree case was dismissed on May 27, 2025. The state settlement under which reforms continue remains open as of the record.[^6][^7] ## In the Minnesota record ### When The project's Time Table dates MDHR's civil rights charge against the City of Minneapolis to July 2020.[^13] The agency's own investigation report gives the filing date as June 1, 2020, and this article uses that date.[^2] ### What The same Time Table row records that the charge eventually produced a 2023 agreement. Court records give that agreement as a court-enforceable settlement filed on July 13, 2023.[^6][^13] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights* (institutional homepage) — the agency's own site; primary URL for the City of Minneapolis settlement agreement. https://mn.gov/mdhr/ [^2]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — charge filed June 1, 2020; probable-cause finding under the Minnesota Human Rights Act; 13-of-14 count; 19% / 63% / 54% figures. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^3]: Laws 1967, ch. 896 and ch. 897, both "Approved May 25, 1967," as verified verbatim against the session-law PDFs in the project's validated master *How Minnesota Got Here*, which also identifies LeVander as a Republican; the session-law URL is not in this record, and the agency's own history page is cited as its account of its 1967 origin. https://mn.gov/mdhr/about/agency-history/ [^4]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Civil Rights Investigation into Minneapolis Police Department* — agency page for the MPD investigation. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/newsroom/civilrightsupdates.jsp?id=1061-434480 [^5]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights v. City of Minneapolis* (court-enforceable settlement agreement), No. 27-CV-23-4177 (Hennepin County District Court, July 13, 2023) — instrument: Minnesota Human Rights Act and April 27, 2022 finding. https://mn.gov/mdhr/ [^6]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Minnesota Department of Human Rights v. City of Minneapolis*, No. 27-CV-23-4177 — filing date, open status, termination condition, ELEFA evaluator since March 18, 2024. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^7]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, case 18178, *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.) — decree filed and approved by the City January 6, 2025; DOJ motion to dismiss May 21, 2025; dismissal with prejudice May 27, 2025; "superfluous." https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^8]: 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 (January 14, 2026) — title of the release and certification by Attorney General Pamela Bondi. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^9]: Bring Me The News, *State settles with St. Cloud company over racist work environment* (July 2022) — news report of MDHR's July 14, 2022 settlement and finding. https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/state-settles-with-st-cloud-company-over-racist-work-environment [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, MNopedia, *Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater* — 1969 solitary/tear-gas episode, Department of Human Rights suit, 1970 decision limiting its oversight authority. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/minnesota-state-prison-stillwater [^11]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *findings report on the City of Minneapolis and MPD* (June 2023); consent decree filed January 2025 and moved for dismissal May 2025. https://www.justice.gov/ [^12]: The White House, presidential action (March 2025) — anchor of at-issue item 26. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^13]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Press releases* (index), as cited in the project's Time Table row TL-0890 (July 2020) — civil rights charge against the City of Minneapolis over MPD. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/press-releases/