# Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission *State commission that writes Minnesota's sentencing guidelines grid. Its 2024 report to the Legislature records staff training delivered through the county prosecutors' association.* The **Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission** (MSGC) is the state commission whose composition and appointments are governed by Minn. Stat. § 244.09.[^1] It writes the sentencing grid within which Minnesota prosecutors charge, and it reports to the [[Legislature]]. Its *2024 Report to the Legislature* records that Commission staff deliver training at "the Minnesota County Attorneys Association monthly CLE series."[^2] The [[Minnesota County Attorneys Association]] (MCAA) represents all 87 elected county attorneys and more than 800 attorneys statewide. It describes its function as one that "provides leadership on legal and public policy issues, fosters communication and cooperation among its members and offers legal training."[^3][^4] The documented outputs sit beside that description. The association is registered with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board as lobbying organization entity #501.[^5] It maintains a standing Sentencing Guidelines page.[^6] The Commission's own report places Commission staff in the association's monthly CLE series.[^2] One at-issue record pair, AI-Carver-013, sets these facts side by side: the body that writes the grid trains the officials who charge within it.[^2] County-attorney representation on the Commission runs through gubernatorial appointment under § 244.09, not through designation by the MCAA.[^1] The [[Minnesota Secretary of State]]'s appointments record lists Washington County Attorney Peter Orput in the Commission's county-attorney seat from October 12, 2016 until August 1, 2020, when he resigned.[^7] Kyra Ladd, Wadena County Attorney, was appointed by Governor Walz in September 2023.[^1] The record shows the training passage. It does not establish the content or frequency of the training, or any effect on a charging decision.[^2] ## Who The Commission's [[county attorney]] member is appointed by the [[governor]] under § 244.09.[^1] The Commission's approved minutes of October 26, 2016 record: "Chair Dietzen introduced Peter Orput who is the newly appointed county attorney member. Mr. Orput has served as Washington County Attorney since January 2011."[^8] The Secretary of State's record for the seat (Position 183) lists two consecutive Orput terms. The second ended in a "Resigned – Unscheduled Vacancy."[^7] Kyra Ladd was appointed to the county-attorney seat in September 2023 as a gubernatorial appointee, not an MCAA designee.[^1] The sources carried here name the appointing governor for the 2023 appointment (Walz). They do not name the appointing governor for the 2016 appointment, and they do not state the party of either governor.[^1][^7] On the association side, Mark Metz has been Carver County Attorney since 2011.[^9] He has sat on the MCAA board since 2014 and was elected the association's president at its annual meeting on December 2, 2021.[^3][^4][^10] ## What The Commission's *2024 Report to the Legislature* records that Commission staff training is delivered at the MCAA's monthly CLE series.[^2] The project's review of that report, recorded in its dossier, found the MCAA named only in that staff-training passage. The review found no recorded MCAA comment on, or position about, any proposed amendment.[^2] ## When - October 12, 2016 – April 22, 2019: Peter Orput's first term in the county-attorney seat, per the Secretary of State position record.[^7] - October 26, 2016: the Commission's approved minutes record Orput's introduction as the newly appointed member. He seconded a permissive-consecutive motion, which carried 5–4.[^8] - April 23, 2019 – August 1, 2020: Orput's second term, recorded as ending in resignation and an unscheduled vacancy.[^7] - December 2, 2021: Carver County Attorney Mark Metz is elected MCAA president.[^3][^4] - September 2023: Governor Walz appoints Kyra Ladd, Wadena County Attorney, to the county-attorney seat.[^1] - 2024: the Commission's report to the Legislature records staff training at the MCAA monthly CLE series.[^2] ## How The record documents two channels between the Commission and the state's county prosecutors: - **Membership.** A county attorney holds a Commission seat by gubernatorial appointment.[^1][^7] - **Training.** Commission staff deliver training through the prosecutors' association's monthly CLE series.[^2] The record does not describe the training beyond the report's passage.[^2] ## How many - At the October 26, 2016 meeting, the permissive-consecutive motion seconded by the county-attorney member carried 5–4.[^8] - The association whose CLE series carries the Commission's staff training represents 87 elected county attorneys and more than 800 attorneys.[^3][^4] ## In the at-issue record **Training pipeline (pair AI-Carver-013).** The pair rests on the Commission's own 2024 report: staff training is delivered at "the Minnesota County Attorneys Association monthly CLE series."[^2] The pair sets that passage beside two facts about the association. First, its membership consists of the officials who hold the charging power. Second, it offers legal training under its own self-description.[^3][^6] **The association's documented reach.** - *Lobbying.* The MCAA is a registered lobbying organization with the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, entity #501, and a 2024 reporting-period record exists.[^5][^11] The project did not retrieve that record's contents, including registrant names and disbursement totals, because the disclosure portal returned HTTP 403 to automated retrieval.[^5] - *Judicial rulemaking.* The MCAA 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.[^12][^13] - *2023 legislation.* The project's search of House coverage of the 2023 public safety omnibus did not locate the MCAA. This is a negative search result, not a finding about the association's conduct.[^14][^15] **Limits of the record.** Commission seats are filled by gubernatorial appointment, not association designation. Ladd's 2023 appointment is the documented example.[^1] The record does not establish that the MCAA did anything improper. It establishes the training passage, the appointment pathway, and the lobbying registration.[^1][^2][^5] ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, *Minnesota Statutes § 244.09* (current) — composition of the Sentencing Guidelines Commission and appointment of its members; cited in the record for the September 2023 gubernatorial appointment of Kyra Ladd, Wadena County Attorney. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/244.09 [^2]: Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, *2024 Report to the Legislature* (2024) — records Commission staff training delivered at "the Minnesota County Attorneys Association monthly CLE series"; the MCAA appears only in that passage. https://mn.gov/sentencing-guidelines/assets/2024MinnSentencingGuidelinesCommReportLegislature_tcm30-606537.pdf [^3]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Carver County Attorney Mark Metz to Lead the Minnesota County Attorneys Association* (Dec. 2021) — Metz elected president at the December 2, 2021 annual meeting; association membership and self-described function. https://mcaa-mn.org/news/589524/Carver-County-Attorney-Mark-Metz-to-Lead-the-Minnesota-County-Attorneys-Association.htm [^4]: Chanhassen Villager, *Carver County Attorney elected president of Minnesota County Attorneys Association* (Dec. 2021) — elected December 2, 2021; board member since 2014; MCAA represents all 87 elected county attorneys and their assistants, over 800 attorneys. https://swnewsmedia.com/chanhassen_villager/news/community/carver-county-attorney-elected-president-of-minnesota-county-attorneys-association/article_9f20ce30-5cec-11ec-9cf9-fb34316ec553.html [^5]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbying organization 501 (Minnesota County Attorneys Association), 2024 reporting period* (2024) — registration record exists; contents not retrieved by the project (HTTP 403). https://cfb.mn.gov/reports-and-data/viewers/lobbying/lobbying-organizations/501/2024.1/ [^6]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Sentencing Guidelines* (page, undated) — the association's standing sentencing-guidelines page. https://mcaa-mn.org/page/SentencingGuideline [^7]: Minnesota Secretary of State, *Commissions and Appointments: Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, County Attorney (Position 183)* (undated) — Peter Orput, Oct. 12, 2016 – Apr. 22, 2019; Apr. 23, 2019 – Aug. 1, 2020, "Resigned – Unscheduled Vacancy." https://commissionsandappointments.sos.mn.gov/Position/Details/183 [^8]: Minnesota Sentencing Guidelines Commission, *Approved Meeting Minutes* (Oct. 26, 2016) — introduction of Peter Orput as the newly appointed county attorney member; permissive-consecutive motion seconded by Orput, carried 5–4. https://mn.gov/msgc-stat/documents/meeting%20materials/October2016/Approved_MSGC_Minutes_26_Oct_2016.pdf [^9]: Carver County, *Mark Metz, County Attorney* (official biography, undated) — elected Carver County Attorney since 2011; reelected to a fourth term in 2022; former chairperson of the MCAA Urban Board. https://www.carvercountymn.gov/departments/county-attorney/mark-metz-county-attorney [^10]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Board of Directors* (page, undated) — the association's board. https://mcaa-mn.org/page/boardofdirectors [^11]: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, *Lobbying program overview* (undated) — the Board's lobbyist and lobbying-organization registration program. https://register.cfb.mn.gov/citizen-resources/board-programs/overview/lobbying/ [^12]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Order Regarding Proposed Amendments re Rules of Juvenile Delinquency Procedure* (undated) — MCAA circulation of a Minnesota Supreme Court rules order. https://mcaa-mn.org/news/691549/Order-Regarding-Proposed-Amendments-re-Rules-of-Juvenile-Delinquency-Procedure.htm [^13]: Minnesota County Attorneys Association, *Order Regarding Proposed Amendments to the Rules of Juvenile Protection Procedure and Adoption Procedure* (undated) — MCAA circulation of a Minnesota 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 [^14]: Minnesota House of Representatives, *Session Daily, Story 17364* (2023) — coverage of the 2023 public safety omnibus searched by the project without an MCAA mention. https://www.house.mn.gov/sessiondaily/Story/17364 [^15]: Minnesota House of Representatives, *New Laws 2023, Story 5511* (2023) — coverage of the 2023 public safety omnibus searched by the project without an MCAA mention. https://www.house.mn.gov/NewLaws/story/2023/5511