Minnesota briefs: Supreme Court sides with Freeborn County sheriff in salary dispute

The Minnesota Supreme Court handed a win to Freeborn County Sheriff Kurt Frei­tag, ruling that the county Board of Commissioners improperly set his salary without giving any rationale for its decision.

In December 2018, the board set Freitag's 2019 salary at $97,020. Freitag had made a detailed presentation to the board, including a comparison of sheriffs' salaries in similarly sized counties. He asked for a salary of $113,952, a raise of 23%.

When his proposal was rejected, Freitag appealed the decision to Freeborn County District Court, as he had the right to do under state law governing sheriffs. That court agreed with him and set his salary at the amount he requested. The county then appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals, which sided with the county.

It's not certain yet what Freitag's salary will be for 2019. The Supreme Court's decision, published last week, sends the case back to the Court of Appeals with an order for that court to determine whether the amount of his salary was properly set by the district judge.

John Reinan

A series of online discussions of issues affecting both rural and urban Minnesota is set to begin March 29 with a look at the state's child-care shortage.

Jointly sponsored by the Minnesota Center for Rural Policy Development and the Citizens League, "Interconnected: Rural-Urban Conversations" will foster policy discussions that affect all Minnesotans, with a focus on connecting the differing perspectives of rural and urban residents.

Schedules of future discussions and links to register will be coming. Watch the websites of both organizations for further information: ruralmn.org and citizensleague.org.

John Reinan

Sartell-St. Stephen school board selected Mounds View Assistant Superintendent Jeff Ridlehoover as the district's new superintendent Thursday.

Ridlehoover, also an adjunct professor at Hamline University, will replace Jeff Schwiebert, who is retiring after seven years with the central Minnesota district.

Ridlehoover beat out finalists Kay Nelson, assistant superintendent at Sartell, and Greg Johnson, superintendent at Albany. The board is slated to approve Ridlehoover's contract Monday.

Jenny Berg