# Ramsey County Attorney *Elected chief prosecutor of Ramsey County, Minnesota* The **Ramsey County Attorney** is the elected chief prosecutor of Ramsey County, [[Minnesota]].[^1] The project's dossier records the county as 170 square miles, the smallest in the state.[^2] John J. Choi has held the office since January 2011 and was reelected in 2014, 2018 and 2022.[^3][^4] In the record, the office's outputs are charging and declination decisions. Its 1990 cross-burning prosecution is recorded as producing the ordinance the Supreme Court struck down in *R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul* (1992).[^2] In June 2015 it charged the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as a corporate defendant, and the criminal charges were later dropped after the Archdiocese admitted wrongdoing. In November 2016 it charged a St. Anthony police officer with second-degree manslaughter, and a jury acquitted in June 2017.[^3] On September 8, 2021 the office announced that it would decline to prosecute charges arising from non-public-safety traffic stops.[^5] On January 27–28, 2026 Choi and the Ramsey County Sheriff announced criminal investigations into federal agents. As of April 17, 2026, no charges were reported filed.[^3] The office's own stated justification for the 2021 policy and the outcomes measured in 2023 are both on the record and are set out below side by side. The office sits within a State against which the [[United States Department of Justice]] filed a civil suit announced in release No. 26-21 of January 14, 2026, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified that case as a matter of general public importance.[^6] ## Who [[Pierce Butler (judge)]] served first as an assistant and then as the elected Ramsey County Attorney from 1892 to 1896.[^4] As county attorney he obtained the convictions and executions of two men in 1894, recorded as the only double execution in Ramsey County history.[^2] President Harding nominated him in 1922, and he was confirmed on January 2, 1923, becoming the first Minnesotan on the [[Supreme Court of the United States]].[^4] He served as an Associate Justice until 1939. He was the sole dissenter in *Buck v. Bell* (1927), the decision upholding compulsory sterilization, and he declined to explain his reasoning.[^2] Tom Kane (1901–1907) prosecuted William Williams, who was hanged in February 1906. Kane then prosecuted three newspapers for publishing details of the execution under the [[John Day Smith]] law. His successor, Richard D. O'Brien (1907–1923), advocated abolishing capital punishment. Minnesota abolished it in 1911, and Williams remains the last person executed in the state.[^2] Later holders recorded in the succession include William B. Randall (1959–1979), Tom Foley (1979–1994) and Susan Gaertner (1995–2011).[^2][^4] John J. Choi took office in January 2011.[^4] He had been Saint Paul City Attorney from 2006 to 2010