# Ramsey County Attorney John Choi *Ramsey County Attorney in Minnesota; requester of a December 2025 Attorney General opinion on 287(g) agreements* John Choi appears in this record as Ramsey County Attorney in two documented matters. The first is a joint announcement on March 29, 2017, made with Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, of charges in a multi-defendant human-trafficking enterprise.[^1] The second is a request for an opinion of Attorney General [[Keith Ellison]] on which county officers may enter 287(g) agreements. The opinion was issued on December 12, 2025.[^2] According to the at-issue record, the opinion held that a [[sheriff]] cannot enter a 287(g) agreement but that county commissioners can.[^2] The same record states that Sherburne County's application, filed for the jail-enforcement model, was paused. It gives the Sheriff's answer as "There isn't a need to do so at this time."[^2] The record places these items side by side by date. It does not establish why the application was paused or whether the opinion caused the pause.[^2] ## Who Choi is identified as Ramsey County Attorney in his office's press-conference record of March 29, 2017.[^1] He is also identified in that office in the at-issue record's account of the December 2025 opinion request.[^2] He is named here in that official capacity only. ## What The office's 2017 record shows Choi and Orput jointly announcing charges in a multi-defendant human-trafficking enterprise.[^1] In 2025, according to the at-issue record, Choi requested the Attorney General's opinion on 287(g) authority. That opinion distinguished between sheriffs, who cannot enter such agreements, and county commissioners, who can.[^2] ## When - March 29, 2017: the joint human-trafficking charging announcement by the Ramsey and Washington County Attorneys.[^1] - December 12, 2025: the date of Attorney General Ellison's opinion, requested by Choi.[^2] ## Where Choi's office is in Ramsey County, Minnesota.[^1] The paused 287(g) application described in the at-issue record is Sherburne County's.[^2] ## In the at-issue record - **AI-Sherburne-026** (dated December 12, 2025). Attorney General Ellison issued an opinion, requested by Ramsey County Attorney Choi, holding that sheriffs cannot enter 287(g) agreements but county commissioners can. Sherburne County's application for the jail-enforcement model was paused. The Sheriff's quoted answer was "There isn't a need to do so at this time."[^2] - The row's underlying sources are KSTP and the Minnesota Reformer.[^2] - The row is flagged because those sources conflict. One describes Sherburne's 287(g) arrangement as "longstanding"; the other dates it to October 2025. The record does not resolve the conflict.[^2] - The row is anchored to a March 2026 White House presidential action on establishing a task force to eliminate fraud.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Ramsey County Attorney's Office, *Press-conference record: joint prosecution, human-trafficking case* (March 29, 2017). Establishes that John Choi was Ramsey County Attorney and that he and Washington County Attorney Pete Orput jointly announced charges in a multi-defendant human-trafficking enterprise. https://www.ramseycountymn.gov/your-government/leadership/county-attorneys-office/news-updates/press-conferences/joint-prosecution-human-trafficking-case [^2]: Minnesota wiki at-issue record AI-Sherburne-026, *The Warehouse County & the Two Offices Edition* (Sherburne package; dated December 12, 2025; underlying sources KSTP and Minnesota Reformer, neither in the pack's allowed URLs). Records the Ellison opinion and Choi's request, the opinion's holding, the paused Sherburne application, the Sheriff's quoted answer, and the source conflict flag. The URL below is the row's White House anchor, *Establishing the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud* (March 2026). It does not itself establish the opinion. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2026/03/establishing-the-task-force-to-eliminate-fraud/