Evolution of the Minnesota County Attorney's Association (MCAA),

Evolution of the Minnesota County Attorney’s
Association (MCAA),
By William Jeronimus
With Comment from the Honorable Stephen Askew
Executive Director John Kingrey asked William (Bill) Jeronimus to write a short
history of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association (MCAA) to celebrate their
30th anniversary. He worked at MCAA as a staff attorney for 14 years, so he was
a natural for the project. There is also comment from the Honorable Stephen
Askew, the second MCAA Executive Director.
Creation of the MCAA
The first thing that struck Bill was how long MCAA has been in existence. The
actual beginnings of an organization occurred before written records were kept
on file in the office, but meetings among County Attorneys existed since
Minnesota became a state. It is the nature of County Attorneys, as elected
officials, to act in concert to promote a common public policy agenda and
coordinate training. To accomplish this, two organization were created – the
County Attorneys Association and the County Attorneys Council. According to
Stephen Askew, the MCAA was organized informally for many years and there
was a set of bylaws that went back to at least the 1950’s. The Association was
formally created as a not-for-profit 501 (c) (6) business league category
institution in September of 1977 to ensure the entity was legally allowed to
engage in lobbying.
The Minnesota County Attorney’s Council was created as a semi-state agency by
the Legislature in 1973, when Warren Spanneus was the Attorney General. The
County Attorneys Council formation was strongly supported by R. W. Johnson,
Anoka County Attorney, Bill Randall, Ramsey County Attorney, and C. Paul
Jones, the State Public Defender. The purpose was to conduct training and serve
as a liaison to other government offices.
Federal Legal Education Assistance (LEAA) grants were utilized during part of
the 1970’s to fund the Council through the Attorney General’s office. When the
LEAA grant was discontinued in the early 1980’s the organization needed to find
new sources of funding. David Larson, who became the third Executive Director
in 1980, pursued provision of services such as child support collection assistance
where fees could be generated to support the organization’s overhead. Larson,
who had been an Assistant Hennepin County Attorney in the Appellate division,
provided written support for education and training programs for the Council.
Later, as Stephen Askew reports, 98% of the education programming and
production of written materials was created from a volunteer base from County

Attorney’s offices around the state, particularly the full-time County Attorney
offices.
Askew reports that while he was Executive Director the Council and the
Association met at the same time and had the same officers, but kept separate
minutes. The officers who served during that time included Anoka County
Attorney R. W. Johnson, Ramsey County Attorney Bill Randall, St. Louis County
Attorney Keith Brownell, Nicollet County Attorney Bill Gustafson, Kandiyohi
County Attorney Ron Schneider, Sibley County Attorney Rafael Miller, Becker
County Attorney Jack Pearson, and Lyon County Attorney Pat Leary. As
mentioned before, the purpose of the council was to conduct training and serve
as a liaison to other government offices; the Association was the venue for the
discussion of policy and legislative concerns.
Executive Directors
The first Executive Director was Phyllis Jean Jones in the early 70’s. (When
Jones was the Executive Director, Esther Tomjanovich was hired as her
assistant; she subsequently became a Supreme Court Judge.) Stephen Askew
became the second in 1975 and remained in the position until 1980. When
Askew left to work in the Attorney General’s office Assistant Hennepin County
Attorney David Larson stepped in. Jean Gerval, originally hired to conduct child
support collections, became the executive director after David moved on and
stayed until she began teaching at the University of Minnesota Law School. Gina
Washburn was the next executive director; she stayed until 1999 and Bill
Jeronimus served as interim executive director until John Kingrey, the present
executive director, began his tenure in 2000.
Location
The office moved several times over the years. When Stephen Askew started in
the summer of 1975, the County Attorneys Council/Association rented space in
the second floor of the State Capitol Credit Union Building on Sherburne Avenue,
right behind the State Capitol. Sometime in 1976, the organization moved to the
new William Mitchell College of Law building. Bill remembers working in the
William Mitchell College of Law office, as well as the subsequent Thomas
Avenue location near Hamline School of Law. The current location is at the
Minnesota County’s Insurance Trust Building. The location provides easy access
and parking, as well as availability of state-of-the-art training and meeting space.
Technology
As technology has progressed over the years, from manual typewriters and
carbon paper, to electric typewriters, to computers and fax machines, to the
internet, MCAA has provided leadership to individual offices. One effort in the
late 90’s was the creation of an integrated research and resource sharing

network for County Attorneys. The goal to integrate individual offices into the
computer age was called the Minnesota County Attorneys Research Network
(MCARN). MCARN was intended to allow County Attorneys around the state to
communicate with each other in a secure manner, the court administrator’s
offices, the Office of the Attorney General, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension,
and the University of Minnesota Misdemeanor Prosecution Clinic using MnNet as
the Internet service provider. That effort was not a resounding success primarily
due to firewall access issues, but it did serve to broaden the understanding of
new technologies. The MCARN model was dropped in favor of a web-based
system to aid all county attorneys in training, advocacy and research. MCAA
was awarded the Midwest Society for Account Executives (MSAE) President’s
Award for best new website in 2004 (www.mcaa-mn.org).
Mission
The original mission of the MCAA was to provide training and education to its
members. In 2002, the Board of Directors approved a new and broader Mission
Statement: to improve the quality of justice in the State of Minnesota. Over time
the goals have been refined to provide: leadership on legal and public policy
issues related to the duties of county attorneys; to enhance communication and
cooperation between county attorneys and the judiciary, county government, the
bar, and other public and private organizations concerned with the administration
of justice; to foster professionalism and competency by providing training,
education and support to county attorneys, assistant county attorneys, and other
key constituencies in the criminal justice system; and, to enhance mutual
cooperation and support among county attorney offices.
Committees
Fourteen committees advise the Board on legislative and policy matters. The
committee structure keeps members apprised of important issues and helps to
create positions if necessary.
Publications
Another key function of MCAA is publications, especially the copyrighted “Code
Books” which were first published in 1982. Since current statutes were identified
as a pressing need for County Attorneys and law enforcement, computers were
purchased and early floppy discs were utilized, to create the publication that we
now rely on.
The first Criminal Code book was created by the Minnesota Academy of
Prosecution and Law Enforcement (MAPLE) in 1982; the cost for the publication
was six dollars. After the publication became a success, the child support and
related statues publication was created, and later the juvenile and traffic code
books. Besides helping to train prosecutors and law enforcement, MAPLE

served as the vehicle to decide which statutes to include in the publications.
MAPLE finally merged with the MCAA, but it continued to serve as an advisory
committee to review code book statutes.
Recommendations for publications are also generated by committees and
individual members on criminal and civil topics such as Condemnation Process
and Procedure, Manual for Grand Jury Presentation, Civil and Criminal
Forfeitures in Minnesota and Arson.
Law Enforcement Training
County Attorneys have a long history of law enforcement training. The original
Peace Officer Training Materials were produced in 1978 through the County
Attorneys Council under a grant from the Law Enforcement Assistance
Administration. Assistant Anoka County Attorney Robert D. Goodell was hired as
a full-time project attorney to develop the original 13 sections. Askew notes that
the intent of that program was to give every County Attorney’s office the capacity
through a lesson plan to provide ongoing training sessions to their local law
enforcement. “Bob Goodell’s contributions to that effort were significant and”,
Askew says, “we never would have gotten the project off the ground without him.”
In 1989 a Regional Training Committee comprised of prosecutor representatives
from the nine crime control regions was formed through the MCAA. That
committee was renamed the Peace Officer Training Committee that stands to
this day. The committee meets periodically to discuss the materials for possible
updates. The last revision of Peace Officer Training materials was in 2005.
Child Support Collection
When Bill was first hired as a law student, part of his job was to help with the
child support judgment collection effort. At that time, there were 12 staff, with 5
doing only child support Judgment Recovery Project (JRP) collections. Jean
Gerval was originally hired to work on JRP collections and was successful in
getting county board resolutions for contracts with the JRP to conduct the
collections. It was an economical way for the smaller counties who had little or
no staff to forward debts to MCAA for collection. For years, MCAA followed child
support legislation and was successful in modifying some of the federal statutes
to comport with Minnesota law. Finally, the funding structure changed and state
agencies took over these collections, but over six million dollars was collected
through MCAA before it ended.
Depositions
For a period of time, MCAA also taped many depositions for County Attorneys
who are charged with the function of establishing paternity. As part of that
process, alleged parents were tested to ascertain the father, and those test

esults were introduced as evidence in a civil proceeding. The tape was created
to lay the foundation for the introduction of the test results. The attorney for the
alleged father would be required to sign a court order to allow the tape’s
introduction in court. Bill conducted many of those depositions with prepared
questions. Dr. Herbert F. Polesky, who worked at the Memorial Blood Center of
Minneapolis assisted.
The challenge often became one of staying awake during the taping. Much
coffee was consumed and, over time, they had memorized the distance one had
to travel to buy either a Juicy Lucy cheeseburger or the occasional stir- fry meal.
Creation of a Foundation
Another endeavor to help fund training was the creation of a 501 3(c) non-profit
corporation. The need arose because several of the grants that the Association
applied for were denied due to its corporate structure. The advantages of the
501 3(c) designation were that it allowed application for some federal and
foundation grants not available to a 501 6(c) entity and allowed individual
contributors to make tax deductible donations. The Minnesota County Attorneys
Educational Foundation (MCAEF) thus came into existence in 1996. Since its
inception, the Educational Foundation has provided minority law school
internships, donated funds to the NDAA Prosecutors Memorial and offered
Annual Meeting tuition scholarships for part-time offices.
Bemidji Trial Advocacy Course
Minnesota was the only state in the country, and to our knowledge the only
jurisdiction in the world, where prosecutors and public defenders were trained
side-by-side in practical trial advocacy skills. This course was originally
developed in the late 1970's by a dedicated group of prosecutors, judges and
defense attorneys, including Judge Jim Preece, and was originally funded
through a federal grant. The course founders observed other trial skills training
programs, researched and obtained funding and, through the efforts of Jim
Preece, established a relationship with Bemidji State University to house the
program.
Askew says, “The course was intended to be interdisciplinary from the very
beginning so that both prosecution and defense would attend at the same time.
It was a unique approach nationwide, and was a little controversial in some
quarters in Minnesota, but was very rapidly accepted.” In its original format the
course was approximately 20 days long - participants attended 10 days of class
in June and returned to Bemidji for another 10 days in August.
In the early 1980's the federal funding ended. The course lapsed for a time, and
for a few years was made up of just prosecutors. Beginning in 1985, the course
was revived and the public defenders returned for what was then known as the

“Bemidji Joint Trial Advocacy Course” that was sponsored by the State Board of
Public Defense, the Office of Attorney General, and administered by the
Minnesota County Attorneys Association. After reinstatement, the School
became a weeklong program in early summer. In 1997, the course sponsors
voted to re-name the program the “Honorable James E. Preece Trial Advocacy
School” in recognition of the tremendous efforts made by Judge Preece to keep
the program going. Over 700 of Minnesota’s prosecutors and public defenders
attended the School. The School became almost a “right of passage” for criminal
trial attorneys in many public offices. The faculty members donated their time,
energy and expertise to the School in order to improve the trial skills of
Minnesota’s public defenders and prosecutors, and thus improve the quality of
criminal justice throughout the state.
Due to budget constraints and other factors the public defenders ceased their
participation in 2002. Without a critical mass the program took a hiatus and was
resurrected as a four and a half day course in 2006, and it is anticipated that a
trial tactics course will be offered every three years.
Women in Office
According to the Secretary of State’s Election Division’s Publication of Minnesota
Elected Officials, it appears that Itasca County Attorney Helen Hill Bianz and
Dodge County Attorney Susan Grimsley were the first women elected as County
Attorneys in 1977 – 1978. However, it is known that Mary Walbran served as
Steele County Attorney in the early 1940’s, substituting for her husband while he
was at war, possibly making her the first woman County Attorney. Askew
believes that Phyllis Jean Jones, the first executive director ...”was the first
assistant female County Attorney in Minnesota, or if not the first in Minnesota,
certainly in Ramsey County.” He goes on to say that female elected County
Attorneys “were, in fact, rare in my time. However, the County Attorney offices
were by the 1970’s hiring female assistants full-time and part-time in a much
greater number than private law firms of the day.”
Douglas County Attorney Ann Carrott was elected president of the MCAA in
1995; she was recently appointed to the bench by Governor Tim Pawlenty. Since
then former Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobochar was elected president of
the MCAA in 2003 and has gone on to become a member of the U.S. Senate.
Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner has been in office for many years; is a
MCAA Board member and was elected president of the MCAA in both 1999 and
2006. Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall will assume the Presidency of
MCAA in 2009.
Advocacy
Another significant role of the MCAA has been advocacy. The most concerted
effort Bill witnessed was the effort to change the order of final argument in
criminal trials. This debate has been going on since before Minnesota became a

state. Minnesota has always had a backwards order in criminal trials, having
prosecutors arguing first and not last. There have been many attempts to
change or modify it by the Supreme Court Rules of Criminal Procedure
Committee and the Legislature, but the greatest effort came through the
legislative process. County Attorneys throughout the state began an intensive
lobbying effort. The legislature finally approved a measure allowing a permissive
inference that a rebuttal may occur if a mistake of fact or law occurred. This
change was then taken to the Minnesota Supreme Court for review
Other successful advocacy efforts to note were modifying the decision in
State v. Krotzer (stay of adjudication) regarding executive versus judicial
functions, the move for a felony DWI; campaign violation reform, and
amendments to the Supreme Court Blakely decision.
Amicus Briefs
Amicus briefs became a mechanism to advocate a variety of public policy and
legal principals. The process for as far back as Bill remembers was to frame the
issue being reviewed on appeal by an Association committee and to forward the
recommendation to the MCAA Board of Directors for approval. Typically
requests to participate in amicus would come from a County Attorney. If
approved, the Board would identify a person to write the brief on behalf of the
Association. The Krotzer amicus (stay of adjudication), State v. Brooks (cashonly
bail), State v. Traylor (DNA testing), and Kmart v. Stearns (60-day rule) are
examples of these briefs.
Minnesota County Attorneys have always gathered to discuss emerging
professional issues, conduct training, and become engaged in a variety of public
policy issues. Several informal structures have existed in the past, as well as the
Minnesota County Attorney Council and the Association, to facilitate that need.
Since the MCAA was first incorporated in September of 1977, it has committed
its resources to provide leadership to County Attorneys in the areas of public
policy and training with the goal of improving the quality of justice in the state of
Minnesota. As it moves forward to face the challenges of the next thirty years,
MCAA will continue to meet the needs of its members.