Case: DOJ Investigation of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office
No Court
Clearinghouse coding complete
Case Summary
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division investigated the Hennepin County Attorney's Office (HCAO) in Minnesota to determine whether it engaged in a pattern or practice of depriving individuals of their federal rights by adopting a new plea-negotiations policy that directed prosecutors to address racial disparities and consider a defendant's racial identity as part of viewing the defendant as a whole person when making plea offers.
On April 28, 2025, HCAO adopted a Negotiations Policy for Cases Involving Adult Defendants, which directed prosecutors to consider racial identity as part of their overall assessment when formulating plea offers and to identify and address racial disparities at decision points. On May 2, 2025, the DOJ Civil Rights Division notified HCAO that it was opening a pattern-or-practice investigation under 34 U.S.C. § 12601. DOJ stated that the investigation would include a comprehensive review of all relevant HCAO policies and practices, characterizing the policy as discriminatory but stating that it had not reached any conclusions. On June 3, 2025, DOJ followed up with a document request letter.
HCAO responded on July 3, 2025, arguing that 34 U.S.C. § 12601 did not apply to prosecutorial charging decisions. HCAO also explained that the Negotiations Policy's goal of ensuring race-neutral decision-making was informed by the DOJ Civil Right's Divisions June 16, 2023 Findings from its prior investigation of the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Police Department for allegedly unlawfully discriminating against Black and Native American people.
DOJ responded on December 9, 2025. It identified two additional statutory grounds for its investigation: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d-1, and the Safe Streets Act, 34 U.S.C. § 10228(c)(3). DOJ based these theories on HCAO's receipt of federal financial assistance through a grant. HCAO replied on February 13, 2026, explaining that it had clarified the Negotiations Policy to direct prosecutors to eliminate bias based on race and attaching its updated policy. HCAO also argued that DOJ's new statutory theories were inapplicable because the federal grant funded detectives' investigative field work rather than the Negotiations Policy, and because the grant itself identified racial equity as a priority and committed to identifying disparities. Finally, HCAO objected to DOJ's document requests because they were unduly burdensome.
On February 26, 2026, DOJ notified HCAO that it was closing the investigation. DOJ maintained that the original Negotiations Policy violated the Constitution and Title VI and cited HCAO's revisions to the policy as the basis for closing the investigation.
Summary Authors
Hannah Grosserichter (8/10/2026)
Documents in the Clearinghouse
Resources
Docket
Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.Case Details
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Trump Administration 2.0: Litigation and Investigations By the Government
Key Dates
Closing Date: Feb. 26, 2026
Case Ongoing: No
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division
Plaintiff Type(s):
U.S. Dept of Justice plaintiff
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
County
Hennepin County Attorney's Office
Defendant Type(s):
Facility Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Title IV, Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000c et seq.
Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act, 34 U.S.C. § 12601 (previously 42 U.S.C. § 14141)
Other Dockets:
Special Case Type(s):
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Relief Granted:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General/Misc.:
Discrimination Area:
Discrimination Basis:
Affected Race(s):
Case Summary of DOJ Investigation of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/48030/ (last updated 8/10/2026).