# Independent evaluator *The independent evaluator under the state-court settlement between the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and the City of Minneapolis.* The **independent evaluator** is the role created under the court-enforceable settlement in *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, [[No. 27-CV-23-4177]]. The settlement was filed March 31, 2023 and approved by [[Hennepin County District Court]] Judge Karen Janisch on July 13, 2023.[^1] The Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) identifies the evaluator as ELEFA, which began on March 18, 2024.[^1] The settlement terminates only on a finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance."[^1] The evaluator's start date falls about twenty-two months after MDHR's probable-cause finding of April 27, 2022, and about eight months after the court approved the settlement.[^2][^1] The record shows those dates. It does not establish the reasons for the interval. A parallel federal track produced findings on June 16, 2023 and a [[consent decree]] filed January 6, 2025 that provided for an independent monitor.[^3][^4] On May 21, 2025 the U.S. Department of Justice moved to dismiss that case with prejudice and retracted its findings.[^5] The state settlement, and its evaluator, is the instrument that remained.[^1] ## Who MDHR's update on the settlement names ELEFA as the independent evaluator for the [[Minneapolis agreement]].[^1] The parties to the agreement are the State, through MDHR, and the [[City of Minneapolis]] and the [[Minneapolis Police Department]] (MPD).[^1][^6] The record for the case is held in two places. MDHR maintains a document hub for the agreement.[^6] The Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse carries the docket.[^7] The pack does not set out the evaluator's specific duties or reporting terms. ## What The evaluator serves under a settlement that grew out of MDHR's investigation. That investigation found "probable cause that the City and MPD engage in a pattern or practice of race discrimination in violation of the Minnesota Human Rights Act."[^2] The court approved the settlement as court-enforceable. It ends only on a judicial finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance."[^1] ## When - **June 1, 2020** — MDHR files its charge against the City and MPD.[^2] - **April 21, 2021** — DOJ opens a pattern-or-practice investigation of the City and MPD under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. The investigation was announced one day after the [[Chauvin verdict]].[^8] - **April 27, 2022** — MDHR issues its probable-cause finding under the [[Minnesota Human Rights Act]].[^2] - **March 31, 2023** — The state settlement is filed.[^1] - **June 16, 2023** — DOJ issues its findings in release 23-674 and publishes an 89-page findings report.[^3][^9] - **July 13, 2023** — Judge Karen Janisch of Hennepin County District Court approves the settlement in No. 27-CV-23-4177.[^1][^7] - **March 18, 2024** — The independent evaluator, ELEFA, begins.[^1] - **January 6, 2025** — A consent decree is filed in [[United States v. City of Minneapolis (MPD consent decree)]], No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.).[^4] - **May 21, 2025** — DOJ moves to dismiss with prejudice and retracts its findings.[^5] - **May 27 or 28, 2025** — Judge [[Paul A. Magnuson]] grants the dismissal. The Clearinghouse docket dates the dismissal May 27, 2025. Sahan Journal reports the order issued May 28, 2025.[^10][^11] ## Where The settlement was approved in Hennepin County District Court, [[Minnesota]]. It concerns policing in [[Minneapolis]] by the City and MPD.[^1][^7] ## How many MDHR's report documented that **13 of the 14** people killed by MPD officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous.[^12] It also found that Black residents were **19%** of the population but **63%** of recorded use-of-force incidents from 2010 to 2020.[^12] For 2017 to 2020, the report found that Black residents accounted for **54%** of officer-initiated traffic stops and **78%** of all searches.[^12] The federal findings, issued June 16, 2023, stated reasonable cause on two points. DOJ found that MPD "uses excessive force, including unjustified deadly force and unreasonable use of tasers."[^3] It also found that MPD "unlawfully discriminates against Black people and Native American people in its enforcement activities."[^3] The consent decree that followed ran to 169 pages and provided for an independent monitor.[^4] ## How The two instruments rested on similar findings and ended in different ways. DOJ's release 25-534 of May 21, 2025 did several things at once:[^5] - It moved to "dismiss with prejudice" the Minneapolis and [[Louisville]] suits. - It closed both investigations. - It retracted the Minneapolis findings, along with those for [[Phoenix]], [[Trenton]], [[Memphis]], [[Mount Vernon]], [[Oklahoma City]] and the [[Louisiana State Police]]. The release's own account of the action, quoting Assistant Attorney General Dhillon, was "ending the Biden Civil Rights Division's failed experiment of handcuffing local leaders."[^5] The documented outputs of that action were twofold. The June 2023 findings were retracted.[^5] The decree's provision for an independent monitor was dismissed with the case.[^4][^10] In dismissing, Judge Magnuson wrote that he had "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest."[^11] The state settlement took a different course. It remains terminable only on a finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance." Its evaluator began on March 18, 2024.[^1] Under release 25-534's own description, the federal investigation (opened April 2021), the findings (June 2023) and the decree (January 2025) were Biden-era actions. The dismissal and retraction came in May 2025 under the Civil Rights Division led by Assistant Attorney General Dhillon.[^5][^8] The pack does not document party affiliation for the state-side officials who filed, approved, or administer the settlement. ## In the at-issue record The at-issue entry ([[At issue 030 - The independent evaluator for the Minneapolis agreement began]]) dates the evaluator's start to March 18, 2024. It counts that as twenty-two months after the probable-cause finding.[^1][^2] The entry holds that the "sustained compliance" clock began when the evaluator started, not when the violation was found. That is the project's reading. The pack does not include the settlement's terms on when a compliance period begins, and no agency has made such a finding. ## Notes [^1]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Civil rights update on the Minneapolis Police Department settlement* (undated in pack) — settlement filed March 31, 2023; approved by Hennepin County District Court Judge Karen Janisch July 13, 2023, *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, No. 27-CV-23-4177; terminates only on a finding of "full, effective, and sustained compliance"; independent evaluator ELEFA began March 18, 2024. https://mn.gov/mdhr/news-community/newsroom/civilrightsupdates.jsp?id=1061-584578 [^2]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — charge filed June 1, 2020; probable-cause finding under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf [^3]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Justice Department Finds Civil Rights Violations by the Minneapolis Police Department and City*, release 23-674 (June 16, 2023) — reasonable-cause findings on excessive force and discrimination. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-finds-civil-rights-violations-minneapolis-police-department-and-city [^4]: U.S. Department of Justice, *Justice Department Reaches Agreement with the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (January 6, 2025) — consent decree filed in *United States v. City of Minneapolis*, No. 0:25-cv-00048 (D. Minn.), 169 pages, providing for an independent monitor. https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-agreement-city-minneapolis-and-minneapolis-police-department [^5]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Civil Rights Division Dismisses Biden-Era Police Investigations*, release 25-534 (May 21, 2025) — motion to dismiss with prejudice the Minneapolis and Louisville suits; investigations closed; findings retracted as to Minneapolis, Louisville, Phoenix, Trenton, Memphis, Mount Vernon, Oklahoma City and the Louisiana State Police; AAG Dhillon statement. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-department-justices-civil-rights-division-dismisses-biden-era-police-investigations-and [^6]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *MPD agreement* document hub — documents of the court-enforceable agreement. https://mn.gov/mdhr/mpd/agreement/ [^7]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *Minnesota v. Minneapolis Police Department*, No. 27-CV-23-4177 (Hennepin County District Court) — case docket. https://clearinghouse.net/case/43326/ [^8]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *DOJ investigation of the City of Minneapolis and Minneapolis Police Department* — investigation opened April 21, 2021 under 34 U.S.C. § 12601, one day after the Chauvin verdict. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^9]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (June 16, 2023) — full 89-page findings report. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-06/minneapolis_findings_report.pdf [^10]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. City of Minneapolis* docket — dates the dismissal May 27, 2025. https://clearinghouse.net/case/18178/ [^11]: Sahan Journal, *Minneapolis federal consent decree dismissed* (May 28, 2025) — Judge Paul A. Magnuson grants dismissal with prejudice, denies the settlement-approval motion as moot, citing "grave misgivings about the proposed consent decree serving the public interest." https://sahanjournal.com/public-safety/minneapolis-federal-consent-decree-dismissed/ [^12]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *Investigation into the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department* (April 27, 2022) — 13 of 14 people killed by MPD officers since 2010 were people of color or Indigenous; Black residents 19% of population, 63% of recorded use-of-force incidents 2010–2020, 54% of officer-initiated traffic stops and 78% of searches 2017–2020. https://mn.gov/mdhr/assets/Investigation%20into%20the%20City%20of%20Minneapolis%20and%20the%20Minneapolis%20Police%20Department_tcm1061-526417.pdf