Richfield council member runs for Hennepin County attorney

Richfield City Council Member Simon Trautmann announced his run for the Hennepin County Attorney's Office, joining two others vying for the post.

Trautmann announced his candidacy Sunday night in a news release and plans to hold a campaign launch at noon Tuesday.

"Throughout our county, fear and skepticism are high and for different reasons," his release stated. "Few people have confidence that our justice system is a fair system. Our campaign will bring voices from around the country to lift up the urgency and the common ground we have to work for and expect to ensure a just legal system."

Trautmann joins former Hennepin County Chief Public Defender Mary Moriartyand Minnesota House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler in the race.

Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Saraswati Singh has said she is exploring a run for the office but has not officially announced her candidacy.

Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, 73, announced in September that he would not seek re-election next November. The Hennepin County attorney oversees the state's largest office of its kind, with 98 attorneys in the civil division and 110 attorneys in the criminal division. The office has a total staff of 208 and an annual budget of $61.9 million for fiscal year 2021. The Hennepin County attorney's current salary is $195,065.

Trautmann said in an interview Monday that George Floyd's death in Minneapolis police custody on May 25, 2020, and losing his mother to COVID-19 just days before that were factors in his decision to run.

"That just brought clarity to the urgency and the level of effort I could contribute to the values that I have," he said. "We have to recognize there's a crisis of confidence and trust in our criminal justice system, and there's a public safety crisis right now and we have to address both together."

Trautmann said some of his priorities include rebuilding trust with the community and bringing "fairness and equity" to the office's role in prosecuting crimes and its many noncriminal functions, such as child support and health and human services.

He also wants to improve people's reintegration into the community after incarceration and expand the office's ability to prosecute wage theft.

"It's important to recognize that most people we send into the criminal justice system will return from the criminal justice system, and we have the incredible burden and responsibility to shape not just how people go into that system, but how people come out of that system," Trautmann said.

Programs that help with housing and employment are key solutions, he said, as well as expanding restorative justice programs, especially with youth.

In a September interview, Trautmann said one of his goals was to examine "collateral consequences of mass incarceration." He said the "punitive incarceration" system creates "thousands of collateral consequences that incentivize recidivism and not healthy, purposeful reintegration into community."

Trautmann's campaign said he initiated criminal justice reforms as a council member and helped found Cities Against Wage Theft and Tax Fraud, a group that is working to combat corporate crime against workers.

Trautmann also serves on the board of Crossing Home, which provides housing and employment for people after treatment or prison.

Trautmann proposed convening a committee of county attorneys to review officer-involved shootings or deaths for possible criminal prosecution or eliciting involvement from the U.S. Department of Justice, among other options.

Trautmann, 41, was born and raised in south Minneapolis. He graduated from North Central University, a private Christian university in downtown Minneapolis, spent two years teaching English in China and then earned his law degree.

Trautmann, who identifies as Puerto Rican, is the principal owner of a law firm in downtown Minneapolis that focuses on business law, nonprofits, real estate and employment law.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib