# Ramsey County Sheriff *Elected law-enforcement office of Ramsey County, Minnesota.* The Ramsey County [[sheriff]] heads the county's elected law-enforcement office in [[Minnesota]]. The county's published biography of Sheriff Bob Fletcher states that he has served "since 1994."[^1] The electoral record shows a gap in that tenure. Fletcher was defeated in the 2010 election, and his successor was sworn in on January 4, 2011. The county page does not state the four-year interruption in the tenure it publishes.[^1][^2] The office's documented outputs in this record include four items. It served as fiscal agent of the [[Metro Gang Strike Force]] through December 31, 2008, the period examined in the Office of the Legislative Auditor's Special Review 09-18 of May 2009.[^3] Fletcher led pre-emptive raids on activist homes days before the 2008 Republican National Convention.[^4] He was re-elected in 2022 with 96.4 percent of the vote.[^5] On January 27–28, 2026, the office and the [[Ramsey County Attorney]] jointly announced criminal investigations into federal agents. As of April 17, 2026, no charges had been reported filed.[^6] ## Who Bob Fletcher is the sheriff named on the county's biography page.[^1] MinnPost reported in May 2022 that he had lost the 2010 election and that his successor took office on January 4, 2011.[^2] In 2022, Fletcher received 136,429 votes, 96.4 percent, in a contest Ballotpedia's record treats as effectively unopposed.[^5] The county's other separately elected law-enforcement office, the Ramsey County Attorney, has been held by John J. Choi since January 2011. Choi was re-elected in 2022 with 137,761 votes, or 97.7 percent, also effectively unopposed.[^6][^7] On September 8, 2021, Choi announced that his office would decline to prosecute charges arising from non-public-safety stops and consent-only vehicle searches. Fletcher at first called the policy "a mistake for the county attorney to make the decision as to what law enforcement should and should not do." He later partnered with the office.[^6] ## What ### Metro Gang Strike Force The Office of the Legislative Auditor's Special Review 09-18, dated May 20, 2009, names the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office as the Strike Force's fiscal agent through December 31, 2008. The review reported $18,126 unaccounted for and 14 vehicles missing. It found 202 of 545 seizure notices unserved and approximately $229,000 wrongly retained.[^3] A separate independent panel review by Luger and Egelhof, dated August 20, 2009, reported warrantless phone searches and seizures made without notice.[^8] The fiscal-agent role is named in the auditor's report. It was not found in the located portion of the panel report, so the two findings are cited separately here.[^3][^8] ### Budget and the county board MinnPost reported that the office projected a $2.5 million overspend in 2019 and finished the year $950,000 over budget. It reported that Fletcher sued the [[County Board]] in 2020 and lost. It also reported that $860,000 in spending was questioned, including funds directed to a law enforcement charter school he established.[^2] These figures rest on news reporting. No county audit or court filing for them is cited in this record.[^2] ### 2008 Republican National Convention On September 1, 2008, days before the Republican National Convention opened in Saint Paul, Ramsey County carried out pre-emptive raids on activist homes under Sheriff Fletcher's lead. That account comes from a Democracy Now report of September 2, 2008. The report states that the "RNC 8" were "charged with conspiracy to riot."[^4] The record here does not include the charging documents or their dispositions.[^4] ### Federal enforcement, 2025–2026 On January 27–28, 2026, Choi and Fletcher announced criminal investigations into federal agents for alleged kidnapping, false imprisonment, and aggravated assault during the Minnesota immigration enforcement surge. Choi issued a four-step protocol. He also wrote to county police chiefs and the BCA affirming local authority to investigate federal officers. These are allegations. As of April 17, 2026, no charges were reported filed.[^6] The announcements followed a federal suit against the State. On September 29, 2025, the United States filed *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:25-cv-03798, over sanctuary policies. The complaint's allegations are the Justice Department's. The suit named the [[City of St. Paul]] but did not name Ramsey County.[^9] Judge [[Eric Tostrud]] dismissed the case on July 20, 2026, according to the case record.[^10] ## When - September 1, 2008: pre-emptive raids on activist homes before the Republican National Convention.[^4] - December 31, 2008: end of the office's service as Metro Gang Strike Force fiscal agent.[^3] - May 20, 2009: Special Review 09-18 issued.[^3] - August 20, 2009: Luger/Egelhof panel review issued.[^8] - 2010: Fletcher defeated. January 4, 2011: his successor sworn in.[^2] - 2020: Fletcher's suit against the county board, which he lost.[^2] - September 8, 2021: Choi's non-public-safety-stop policy, which Fletcher first opposed.[^6] - 2022: Fletcher re-elected with 96.4 percent.[^5] - January 27–28, 2026: joint announcement of investigations into federal agents.[^6] - July 20, 2026: *United States v. State of Minnesota* dismissed.[^10] ## How much - $18,126 unaccounted for and about $229,000 wrongly retained in the Strike Force, according to Special Review 09-18.[^3] - $2.5 million projected 2019 overspend, $950,000 final overage, and $860,000 questioned, as reported by MinnPost.[^2] ## How many - 14 Strike Force vehicles missing, and 202 of 545 seizure notices unserved.[^3] - 136,429 votes (96.4 percent) for the sheriff in 2022.[^5] - 137,761 votes (97.7 percent) for the county attorney in 2022.[^7] ## Omissions in official accounts The county's biography of Sheriff Fletcher, published under the Sheriff's Office leadership page, gives his service as "since 1994."[^1] The page does not mention his 2010 defeat or his successor's swearing-in on January 4, 2011, both of which MinnPost documented in May 2022.[^2] ## In the at-issue record **Pair 77 (self-published tenure).** This pair sets the county biography's "since 1994" against the 2010 defeat and the January 4, 2011 swearing-in of Fletcher's successor. It draws on the county's own page and on MinnPost reporting.[^1][^2] The project anchors the pair to a 2025 White House presidential action on eliminating information silos.[^11] **Pair 80 (county to federal).** This pair records the January 27–28, 2026 joint announcement by the County Attorney and the Sheriff of investigations into federal agents.[^6] The project's ledger classifies it as the only instrument in its corpus that runs from county to federal rather than federal to state. That classification is the project's own, not a finding of any court or agency.[^6][^11] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - The project time table's September 1, 2008 row lists Ramsey County as the actor in the pre-RNC raids and Sheriff Bob Fletcher as their leader.[^4] - The project's Ramsey County history table records the sheriff's 2022 re-election at 96.4 percent and the county attorney's at 97.7 percent, both effectively unopposed.[^5][^7] ## Notes [^1]: Ramsey County, *Meet Sheriff Fletcher* (county website, undated) — the county's published biography stating that the sheriff has served "since 1994." https://www.ramseycountymn.gov/your-government/leadership/sheriffs-office/meet-sheriff-fletcher [^2]: MinnPost, *Controversial and unchallenged: why Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher looks to be cruising toward another term* (May 2022) — reports the 2010 defeat and the January 4, 2011 swearing-in, the 2019 overspend, the 2020 suit against the county board, and the $860,000 in questioned spending. https://www.minnpost.com/metro/2022/05/controversial-and-unchallenged-why-ramsey-county-sheriff-bob-fletcher-looks-to-be-cruising-toward-another-term/ [^3]: Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Special Review 09-18: Metro Gang Strike Force* (May 20, 2009) — names the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office as fiscal agent through December 31, 2008, and reports the unaccounted funds, missing vehicles, unserved notices and retained property. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2009/other/090592.pdf [^4]: Democracy Now, *As the RNC Opens in St. Paul* (September 2, 2008), as summarized in project time table row TL-0772 — reports the pre-emptive raids led by Sheriff Fletcher and the "RNC 8" charges. https://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/2/as_the_rnc_opens_in_st [^5]: Ballotpedia, *Bob Fletcher* (election record) — 2022 result of 136,429 votes, 96.4 percent, effectively unopposed. https://ballotpedia.org/Bob_Fletcher [^6]: Project dossier, *Warren E. Burger Apex Dossier* §VIII (September 2, 2026; validated) — records Choi's tenure since January 2011, the September 8, 2021 policy and Fletcher's response, the January 27–28, 2026 announcement and protocol, and that no charges were reported filed as of April 17, 2026. The dossier's underlying county and Sahan Journal sources are not among the URLs available to this article. [^7]: Ballotpedia, *John Choi (Minnesota)* (election record) — 2022 result of 137,761 votes, 97.7 percent, effectively unopposed. https://ballotpedia.org/John_Choi_(Minnesota [^8]: Luger and Egelhof, *Report of the Metro Gang Strike Force Review Panel* (August 20, 2009) — reports warrantless phone searches and seizures without notice. https://www.leg.mn.gov/docs/2009/other/090834.pdf [^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Justice Department Sues Minnesota Over Sanctuary Policies* (September 2025) — announces the filing of No. 0:25-cv-03798 on September 29, 2025, against defendants that include the City of Saint Paul but not Ramsey County. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-minnesota-over-sanctuary-policies [^10]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, case 47014 — records the dismissal on July 20, 2026, by Judge Eric Tostrud. https://clearinghouse.net/case/47014/ [^11]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the project's anchor document for at-issue pairs 77 and 80. It does not itself report the events described in either pair. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/