# Law, Safety and Justice *Budget category of Hennepin County, Minnesota, covering the sheriff and county attorney.* Law, Safety and Justice is a spending category in the 2026 budget of [[Hennepin County, Minnesota]]. It groups the county's [[sheriff]] and [[county attorney]]. Reported figures put it at about 15 percent of the county budget.[^1] The same reported breakdown puts a category titled [[Operations and Disparity Reduction]] at 13.8 percent.[^1] The county adopted its 2026 budget on December 11, 2025. The budget totals $3.15 billion and is funded in part by a $1.13 billion property tax levy, which rose 7.79 percent.[^2] The category shares come from a news report, not a county document. The project's validation notes record that the county's own budget PDFs returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval.[^1] Both category names are the budget's own labels. One at-issue pair in the record compares the reported size of the disparity-reduction category with that of the sheriff and county attorney combined.[^1][^3] ## Where The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Hennepin County's population at 1,284,784 on July 1, 2025. The April 1, 2020 census counted 1,281,565.[^4] The Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate for [[Minnesota]] is 5,830,405. On those two figures the county holds 22.0 percent of the state's population; that ratio is derived from the two Census pages and is not published by the Bureau.[^5] The Bureau of Economic Analysis puts Hennepin County's 2024 all-industry GDP at $193,617,316 thousand, or about $193.6 billion.[^6] It puts Minnesota's 2024 all-industry GDP at $507,687.8 million. On those figures the county produced about 38.1 percent of state output, which is also a derived ratio.[^7] ## How much - **Total 2026 budget:** $3.15 billion, adopted December 11, 2025. Of this, $2.78 billion is operating spending (up 9.0 percent) and $374 million is capital.[^2] - **Property tax levy:** $1.13 billion, an increase of 7.79 percent.[^2] - **Law, Safety and Justice** (sheriff and county attorney together): about 15 percent of the 2026 budget.[^1] - **Operations and Disparity Reduction:** 13.8 percent of the 2026 budget.[^1] - **Other reported shares:** Human Services 26.8 percent, Health 21.2 percent, Capital 11.9 percent, Public Works 6.1 percent and Resident Services 5.1 percent.[^1] The category figures in the record are percentages only. The record does not give a dollar amount for each category. It also does not itemize the programs within Operations and Disparity Reduction.[^1][^2] ## In the at-issue record The pair catalogued as [[At issue 057 - Law, Safety and Justice is about 15 of]] is ranked 57 in the Hennepin package. It states that Law, Safety and Justice is about 15 percent of the county's 2026 budget and that Operations and Disparity Reduction is 13.8 percent. From those figures it concludes that the county "spends nearly as much on the disparity-reduction line as on the sheriff and the county attorney combined."[^1] The pair rests on a single source, the Hometown Source report.[^1] The pair is anchored to the January 2025 presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*. Its stated ground is that "the budget's own category names state the county's operating theory."[^3] The record documents the category's name and its reported share of the budget. It does not document the county's own account of what the category funds or produces.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Hometown Source (Sun Post), *Hennepin County board adopts $3.15B budget for 2026* — 2026 budget composition: Human Services 26.8%, Health 21.2%, Law/Safety/Justice 15%, Operations & Disparity Reduction 13.8%, Capital 11.9%, Public Works 6.1%, Resident Services 5.1%. This is journalism, not a primary document; the county's budget PDFs returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval. https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_post/free/hennepin-county-board-adopts-3-15b-budget-for-2026/article_18def2d9-37f8-400d-b5ef-6ed6ffd6e4f5.html [^2]: Hennepin County, *GovDelivery bulletin on the 2026 budget* (adopted December 11, 2025) — $3.15 billion total; $2.78 billion operating (up 9.0%); $374 million capital; $1.13 billion property tax levy, a 7.79% increase. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNHENNE/bulletins/3ff072c [^3]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025) — the presidential action to which at-issue pair 057 is anchored. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^4]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Hennepin County, Minnesota* — population 1,281,565 (April 1, 2020 census); 1,284,784 (July 1, 2025 estimate). https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/hennepincountyminnesota/PST045224 [^5]: U.S. Census Bureau, *QuickFacts: Minnesota* — population 5,706,494 (2020 census); 5,830,405 (July 1, 2025 estimate). The 22.0% county share is derived arithmetic. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MN/PST045224 [^6]: Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED, *All Industry Total GDP, Hennepin County, MN* (2024) — $193,617,316 thousand. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDPALL27053 [^7]: Bureau of Economic Analysis via FRED, *Minnesota all-industry GDP* (2024) — $507,687.8 million. The 38.1% county share is a derived ratio. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MNNGSP