DFL House speaker: Keith Ellison could get funding to hire more prosecutors 'very quickly'

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison may finally get the funding he's been seeking to add more criminal prosecutors to his office.

Ellison's office has three full-time criminal prosecutors, up from one when he took office. He's sought legislative funding to add seven prosecutors in recent years, but his request stalled in the political gridlock of a divided Legislature.

With Democrats now in full control of state government, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said Ellison's funding request could be granted "very quickly."

"I can speak to one bill that we have in common in the early introductions, which is giving Attorney General Keith Ellison the very small amount of money that he would like to prosecute more violent crime in greater Minnesota," Hortman said during a Wednesday news conference. "The county attorneys want more help from the Attorney General's Office, especially for those less populated counties."

The attorney general handles prosecutions only at county attorneys' request. Ellison has won praise for helping some under-resourced rural county attorneys with criminal prosecution cases.

The funding could also help Ellison fend off future political attacks. His GOP opponent in last year's election criticized him for not having enough criminal prosecutors in the Attorney General's Office.