# Minnesota County Attorneys Association *Statewide association of Minnesota's elected county attorneys and their assistants; a registered lobbying organization.* The Minnesota County Attorneys Association (MCAA) is a statewide association of [[Minnesota]]'s county attorneys. When it announced its 2021 election of a president, the association was described as representing "all 87 elected county attorneys and their assistants — over 800 attorneys."[^1][^2] Its stated function is that it "provides leadership on legal and public policy issues, fosters communication and cooperation among its members and offers legal training."[^1][^2] The association's overview summarizes its members' duties under Minnesota Statutes chapter 388. These are civil counsel to county boards, felony and juvenile prosecution, juvenile diversion oversight, victim services, child protection, child support enforcement, involuntary commitment, and "advocacy for strengthened laws."[^3][^4] The record assembled here documents three outputs of that function: a training channel, a rules-circulation channel, and a lobbying registration whose contents were not retrieved. The Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission's *2024 Report to the Legislature* records Commission staff training at "the Minnesota County Attorneys Association monthly CLE series."[^5] The association circulates [[Minnesota Supreme Court]] orders on proposed amendments to the juvenile delinquency and juvenile protection rules.[^6][^7] It is registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board as lobbying organization entity #501. The 2024 record exists, but its contents were not retrieved because the board's viewer returned HTTP 403 on direct request.[^8] Searches of coverage of the 2023 public safety omnibus located no MCAA mention. The Commission's 2024 report carries no recorded MCAA comment or position on any proposed amendment.[^9][^5] ## Who Carver County Attorney Mark Metz has held that office since 2011 and was reelected to a fourth term in 2022. He joined the MCAA Board of Directors in 2014 and was elected the association's president at its annual meeting on December 2, 2021.[^10][^2][^11] His county biography lists him as a former chairperson of the association's Urban Board and a past president of the Eighth District Bar Association.[^10] Robert Small was the association's executive director at the time of that election.[^2] An Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention biography records Backstrom as twice president of the association. It also records him as serving on the NDAA board and as Juvenile Justice Committee co-chair. No NDAA presidency is established by that or any located source, and none is stated here.[^12] The association does not designate county-attorney members of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission. That representation runs through gubernatorial appointment under Minnesota Statutes § 244.09. Wadena County Attorney Kyra Ladd was appointed by Governor Walz in September 2023 as a gubernatorial appointee, not an MCAA designee.[^13] ## What The association maintains a standing Sentencing Guidelines page.[^14] It publishes Minnesota Supreme Court orders on proposed amendments to the *Rules of Juvenile Delinquency Procedure* and to the *Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure and Adoption Procedure*.[^6][^7] In the Commission's 2024 report to the Legislature, the association appears only in the staff-training passage.[^5] ## When - 2011: Metz first elected Carver County Attorney.[^10] - 2014: Metz joins the MCAA Board of Directors.[^2] - December 2, 2021: Metz elected MCAA president at the annual meeting. The association's 2022 president was therefore the Carver County Attorney.[^1][^2] - September 2023: Governor Walz appoints Kyra Ladd to the Sentencing Guidelines Commission under § 244.09.[^13] - 2023: coverage of the Minnesota public safety omnibus, as searched, does not name the association.[^9] - 2024: the Commission's report records staff training in the MCAA monthly CLE series.[^5] The association's lobbying registration for the 2024 reporting period exists, with contents not retrieved.[^8] ## How The association trains through a monthly continuing-legal-education series. The Sentencing Guidelines Commission's own report records Commission staff delivering training in that series.[^5][^14] It takes part in judicial rulemaking by publishing and circulating the Supreme Court's orders on proposed amendments to the juvenile rules.[^6][^7] The association lobbies as a registered principal under the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board's lobbying program.[^15][^16] Its registered lobbyists' names and disbursement totals sit in that board's records. The 2024 entity record and the 2024 annual lobbyist disbursement summary both returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval, and so did the association's own website.[^8][^17] The project's searches located no published MCAA legislative platform and no MCAA position on bail. They also found no mention of MCAA in coverage of the 2023 public safety omnibus. These are negative search results; the record does not establish that no such statements exist.[^9] ## How much The association's 2024 lobbying disbursement totals are reported in the board's annual lobbyist disbursement summary, which was not retrieved. No dollar figure is stated here.[^17][^8] ## How many As of the December 2021 announcement, the association represented all 87 elected county attorneys and their assistants, more than 800 attorneys in all.[^1][^2] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record carries seven pairs about the association, each setting a documented item beside a federal anchor document. Three are paired with the March 2025 presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*: - the entity #501 registration whose contents were not retrieved; - the absence of any located platform, bail position or omnibus mention, recorded alongside the association's 2022 presidency by the Carver County Attorney; - a row stating that Sherburne County Attorney Kathleen Heaney was the association's president in 2015 and held no seat on the Sentencing Guidelines Commission, the Violent Crime Coordinating Council, the POST Board, or any governor-appointed criminal-justice task force.[^18] Two rows are paired with the March 2026 presidential action *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud*.[^19] One is the Commission's CLE training passage.[^5] The other states that on June 4, 2020, ten days after the killing of George Floyd, the association voted at an emergency meeting to hand every police-involved death case to the state Attorney General. The same row states that Backstrom supported the transfer, saying it would "improve public trust and bring consistency."[^19] One row is paired with the January 2025 presidential action *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity*. It states that on April 29, 2016, the association signed the Drug Sentencing Reform Agreement. The agreement raised the first-degree sales threshold from 10 to 17 grams, eliminated mandatory minimums for prior third- through fifth-degree convictions, and made stays of adjudication mandatory for qualifying first-time possession.[^20] The seventh row concerns a case referral. Morrison County and the Attorney General's office both declined the Byron Smith double-homicide prosecution. The association then routed the case to Washington County, which took and tried it. The row states the trial ended in two first-degree murder convictions after three hours of jury deliberation. Washington County Attorney Pete Orput explained his acceptance of the case: "Somebody's gotta."[^21] None of the records cited here names the association as a party to the federal actions against the State. The United States' own term for the State's apparatus appears in the title of [[United States Department of Justice]] Office of Public Affairs release No. 26-21 (January 14, 2026): *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. The lawsuit is pending, and its docket number is not carried in this record.[^22] The project's catalogue of U.S.-government "regime" usages finds no other U.S. state so described. That is the project's catalogue finding, not an independently established fact.[^22] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Carver County Attorney Mark Metz to Lead the Minnesota County Attorneys Association* (Dec. 2021) — association announcement of the December 2, 2021 election; membership scale and stated function. https://mcaa-mn.org/news/589524/Carver-County-Attorney-Mark-Metz-to-Lead-the-Minnesota-County-Attorneys-Association.htm [^2]: Chanhassen Villager, *Carver County Attorney elected president of Minnesota County Attorneys Association* (Dec. 2021) — election at the annual meeting December 2, 2021; board member since 2014; MCAA "represents all 87 elected county attorneys and their assistants — over 800 attorneys"; Executive Director Robert Small. https://swnewsmedia.com/chanhassen_villager/news/community/carver-county-attorney-elected-president-of-minnesota-county-attorneys-association/article_9f20ce30-5cec-11ec-9cf9-fb34316ec553.html [^3]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Overview* (n.d.) — county attorneys' duties under Minnesota Statutes chapter 388, including "advocacy for strengthened laws." https://mcaa-mn.org/page/overview [^4]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes, chapter 388* (current) — statutory chapter governing county attorneys. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/388 [^5]: Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, *2024 Report to the Legislature* (2024) — Commission staff training delivered at "the Minnesota County Attorneys Association monthly CLE series"; no recorded MCAA comment or position on any proposed amendment. https://mn.gov/sentencing-guidelines/assets/2024MinnSentencingGuidelinesCommReportLegislature_tcm30-606537.pdf [^6]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Order Regarding Proposed Amendments re Rules of Juvenile Delinquency Procedure* (n.d.) — association circulation of a Supreme Court rules order. https://mcaa-mn.org/news/691549/Order-Regarding-Proposed-Amendments-re-Rules-of-Juvenile-Delinquency-Procedure.htm [^7]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Order Regarding Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure and Adoption Procedure* (n.d.) — association circulation of a Supreme Court rules order. https://mcaa-mn.org/news/431720/Order-Regarding-Proposed-Amendments-to-the-Rules-of-Juvenile-Protection-Procedure-and-Adoption-Proc.htm [^8]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbying organization entity #501 (Minnesota County Attorneys Association), 2024 reporting period* (2024) — registration record exists; contents not retrieved (HTTP 403 on direct request). https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/lobbying/lobbying-organizations/501/2024.1/ [^9]: Minnesota House of Representatives, *Session Daily* and *New Laws 2023* stories on the 2023 public safety omnibus (2023), with Arnold Ventures, *Minnesota overhauls its criminal justice system* — coverage searched without an MCAA mention; negative search results. https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/17364 ; https://www.house.mn.gov/NewLaws/story/2023/5511 ; https://www.arnoldventures.org/stories/minnesota-overhauls-its-criminal-justice-system [^10]: Carver County, *Mark Metz, County Attorney* (official biography, n.d.) — Carver County Attorney since 2011; reelected to a fourth term in 2022; former chairperson of the Urban Board; past president of the Eighth District Bar Association. https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-attorney/mark-metz-county-attorney [^11]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Board of Directors* (n.d.) — association board listing. https://mcaa-mn.org/page/boardofdirectors [^12]: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, *Biographies* (n.d.) — twice president of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association; NDAA board and Juvenile Justice Committee co-chair; no NDAA presidency stated. https://ojjdp.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh176/files/newsletter/252760/biographies.html [^13]: Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 244.09* (current) — Sentencing Guidelines Commission composition and gubernatorial appointment; the basis of Kyra Ladd's September 2023 appointment by Governor Walz. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/244.09 [^14]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Sentencing Guidelines* (n.d.) — association's standing sentencing-guidelines page. https://mcaa-mn.org/page/SentencingGuideline [^15]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbying program overview* (n.d.) — the board's lobbyist registration and reporting program. https://register.cfb.mn.gov/citizen-resources/board-programs/overview/lobbying/ [^16]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbyist Handbook* (n.d.) — registration and reporting obligations of lobbyists and principals. https://cfb.mn.gov/pdf/publications/handbooks/lobbyist_handbook.pdf [^17]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbyist Disbursement Summaries, 2024* (2024) — annual disbursement summary; blocked to automated retrieval. https://cfb.mn.gov/pdf/publications/reports/lobbyist_disbursement_summaries/lbsm_2024.pdf [^18]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — anchor document with which the at-issue record pairs its registration, no-platform and Heaney rows; it does not itself document those rows. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^19]: The White House, *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026) — anchor document with which the at-issue record pairs its CLE-training and June 4, 2020 vote rows; it does not itself document the vote. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/ [^20]: The White House, *Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity* (January 2025) — anchor document with which the at-issue record pairs its April 29, 2016 Drug Sentencing Reform Agreement row; it does not itself document the agreement. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity/ [^21]: Minnesota Lawyer, *Attorneys of the Year: Pete Orput* (Feb. 20, 2015) — Morrison County and the Attorney General declined; referral through the Minnesota County Attorneys Association; "Somebody's gotta." https://minnlawyer.com/2015/02/20/attorneys-of-the-year-pete-orput/ [^22]: 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) — filing of the lawsuit; Attorney General Pamela Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime