Division of Professional Standards

Enshrined in both the Constitution and state and federal law is a criminal defendant’s right to due process, which includes the right to a fair trial. The HCAO is the largest prosecuting office in Minnesota, handling over 10,000 cases every calendar year, and the office’s compliance with due process and the requirements of the prosecuting authority associated with it are of paramount importance to both the office and the community the office serves.  

As a prosecuting office, the HCAO has a statutory and constitutional obligation to turn over to a defendant in a criminal case information within the prosecutor’s possession and control that is exculpatory to a defendant’s guilt or that impacts the credibility of any State witnesses. This obligation is colloquially called the State’s “Brady/Giglio” obligation, named after the two United States Supreme Court cases where this obligation originated.

Brady/Giglio information can include information contained in disciplinary records for police officers, statements from witnesses in a case to members of the prosecution team, and records from collateral criminal or civil court matters. A defendant has a right to know prior to trial, for example, if the officer who wrote the search warrant that led to the discovery of pivotal evidence against them has any history of being disciplined for lying. Some other examples of conduct by officers or other State witnesses involved in the case that would warrant disclosure under the State’s Brady/Giglio obligation include evidence of the witness having used excessive force in the past, of the witness having a demonstrable bias against a person or group of people, or of the witness failing to properly handle evidence. 

In 2023, the HCAO created the Brady Team, whose full-time work centers around the office’s compliance with Brady/Giglio. The Brady Team works tirelessly to ensure that the HCAO is complying with its Brady/Giglio obligations, and their work exists in the complicated intersection of the prosecutor’s obligations under the Constitution and the rules of criminal procedure and the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, which controls how government data is identified, controlled, and disseminated.  The Brady Team ensures the HCAO’s compliance with Brady/Giglio by reviewing the disciplinary records for any law enforcement witnesses of the State and making any appropriate disclosures from those records to defense, by drafting court orders to have any private or confidential records that could contain Brady/Giglio information securely disclosed to the appropriate authority for review, and by tracking for disclosure any judicial orders where a judge opines on the credibility of police officers or other State witnesses, among many other tasks. The Brady Team also works directly with the over 35 different law enforcement agencies with state and local legislators to develop policies and procedures that adequately safeguard the privacy rights of individuals implicated in potential Brady/Giglio data while ensuring that all defendants prosecuted in Hennepin County are afforded due process as required by law. 

The Brady/Giglio Unit also processes requests from law enforcement agencies conducting background checks for prospective officers. If you are a law enforcement agency seeking such information, please email CA.DisclosureInfo@hennepin.us.

The HCAO’s Training Unit oversees both office-wide training efforts and the Law Clerk Program.

Training Initiatives

The Training Unit is dedicated to consolidating and digitizing training content while also integrating evidence-based best practices into all aspects of the HCAO’s work. The Training Unit helps to ensure that employees have access to up-to-date, vetted resources, and works to implement technological innovations that support high-quality performance. The Training Unit has revamped the office’s annual New Attorney Trial School, and regularly introduces new resources and training topics.

Law Clerk Program

The HCAO Law Clerk Program offers over 30 paid part-time positions during the academic year, in addition to a robust full-time summer session where clerks are exposed to each of the office’s divisions. Clerks routinely engage in research and legal writing and have the opportunity to work closely with attorneys on all aspects of their cases. Law clerks play a crucial role in supporting the office’s functions, including supervised court calendar appearances for low-level offenses.

The HCAO’s Law Clerks come from diverse backgrounds, from both local and national law schools, and bring a wealth of experiences to our office. The HCAO receives hundreds of applications annually for this practical, substantive legal experience that affords hands-on, challenging work experience. The Law Clerk Program plays an important role in preparing students for a career in public service while instilling the high ethical standards upheld by the office.

The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office’s Expungement Program works to increase accessibility for eligible individuals by removing as many of the barriers that stop people from seeking to have their records sealed as possible.

The prosecutor-led expungement program, known as Help Seal My Record, provides an online application system where community members can apply to have their records reviewed for expungement eligibility. Eligible records are sealed without further involvement from the subject of the record, while ineligible individuals are given a detailed explanation of why they are not eligible and provided additional resources where applicable.

Please note that we can only review cases prosecuted by the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. For records from any other county attorney’s office or any city attorney, please visit the MN Attorney General's Office for additional information.

The Strategy, Data, and Research & Innovation Unit is an internal consulting team within the HCAO that serves as a resource for supporting effective, efficient, and equitable services through a data-informed, human-centered approach. The SDRI unit relies on data, research, and best practices to guide HCAO’s existing work and drive innovation around new solutions to complex problems.

Strategy

Within the criminal legal system, prosecutors’ offices have considerable power, influence, and discretion. The SDRI unit helps staff and leadership ensure that HCAO’s work aligns with a thoughtful, intentional, values-driven strategic framework.

Data

Data is an essential part of the HCAO’s vision of a safe, equitable, and just Hennepin County. The SDRI unit helps HCAO staff and leadership monitor, review, and use data to support effectiveness, efficiency, and continuous improvement. The unit also helps foster public understanding of what the HCAO does and promotes transparency and accountability through tools like data dashboards.

Research and Innovation

There is no single magical solution to creating communities where everyone is safe, healthy, hopeful, and thriving. But science and research tell us that effective strategies exist. And promising approaches continue to emerge all the time. The SDRI unit helps staff and leadership leverage evidence, research, and science to ensure alignment with best practices and identify opportunities for new, innovative approaches.

The HCAO is committed to serving all residents equitably, including the 13 percent of Hennepin County residents born outside the U.S. To fulfill that mission, the HCAO formed the Immigration Policy Unit in 2024.

The Immigration Policy Team of the HCAO writes and implements transformative policies that:

1. Support victims of crime applying for immigration relief,
2. Build trust with immigrant and refugee communities, and
3. Create a more welcoming, inclusive, and just legal system.

The cornerstone of the Immigration Policy Team’s work is certifying U visas and T visas for victims of crime. In 2023, the team reimagined the HCAO’s U visa and T visa certification practices through a new, victim-centered policy that has been called “a model for the country.”

The HCAO’s U visa and T visa certification policy has four key components:

1. Expanding access to certifications for victims of crime with any connection to Hennepin County, regardless of whether the HCAO prosecuted their case;
2. Certifying requests within 30 days or only 7 days for victims in removal proceedings;
3. Using trauma-informed legal standards that anticipate a victim’s limited ability to assist in an investigation or prosecution because of fear and trauma; and
4. No longer considering victims’ criminal histories when processing certification requests.

The Immigration Policy Team collaborates with the HCAO’s Worker Protection Unit by submitting official Statements of Interest that support immigration relief for exploited workers and by proactively certifying T visa applications for victims of labor trafficking and forced labor.

The Immigration Policy Team is equipped to write letters that may support victims and witnesses requesting immigration fee waivers and addressing time-sensitive immigration issues and letters that identify and verify case records for those facing immigration consequences.

Lastly, the Immigration Policy Team is considering policies that will resolve criminal cases without exposing noncitizen defendants to unnecessary collateral immigration consequences.

For more information about the HCAO’s U visa and T visa certification policy, visit U/T visa.

To contact the HCAO’s Immigration Policy Team, email visa@hennepin.us; please note that statements relating to an open criminal case, regardless of jurisdiction, will be disclosed to the defense.

Clemency

The HCAO provides statements to the Board of Pardons on clemency cases that involve felonies prosecuted by Hennepin County. When working on clemency requests, the HCAO take a holistic review of applications. HCAO will review applications to understand what steps the applicant has taken since being convicted of the crime to achieve rehabilitation. The HCAO also reviews the case file, reaches out to the victims, and conducts a background investigation. After reviewing all of the information available, HCAO makes a decision to either support, oppose, or take no position on a clemency application.

Prosecutor-Initiated Sentence Adjustment

In 2023, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law allowing prosecutors to ask a judge to adjust the sentences of past criminal convictions. In February of 2024, the HCAO began accepting applications to review cases to bring before the Court to adjust an individual’s sentence. The HCAO will need “substantial and compelling reasons” to ask the court to adjust someone’s sentence. The HCAO is working with lawyers at the University of St. Thomas School of Law to review and process applications for Prosecutor-Initiated Sentence Adjustment. For more information please see Prosecutor-Initiated Sentence Adjustment.

The Conviction Integrity Unit (“CIU”) of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office works to investigate criminal convictions within Hennepin County where there is a plausible claim that an innocent person was convicted or some other serious miscarriage of justice occurred and, based on the findings of those investigations, pursue appropriate relief for individuals. 

Find out how to apply to the CIU and find answers to other frequently asked questions.